This Game of Life
by zeraslam6
Summary: It's said that in this game of life, the lies we tell can simply remain little and white, or they can become larger than life. So, when faced with the chance to steer that game wherever she wishes, how will Haruno Sakura force it to play out? Rewrite of Life is a Game. Sakura-centric. AU, with elements from The Gamer and Butterflies/The Butterfly Effect by Fayth85 mixed in.
1. New Game

**This Game of Life**

 **Prologue**

 **New Game**

I stared.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura  
Class: The Gamer  
** **Level: LV 1  
** **HP: 100/100  
** **MP: 50/50  
** **STR: 10  
** **VIT: 5  
** **DEX: 5  
** **INT: 25  
** **WIS: 10  
** **LUK: 10  
** **Points: 0**

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"

* * *

After calming down a tad (and getting a stern talking-to from my mother about the use of 'unladylike' words, throughout which Daddy couldn't stop laughing), I looked at this carefully. There seemed to be an entire menu..? Curious, I looked at it, finding a myriad of options and I didn't even know where to start. I selected 'Skills' to begin with. That seemed to make the most sense.

 **Substitution Technique (Active) LV1 EXP: 93.67%  
A technique granted to shinobi long ago, after they won the favour of the Log. Or maybe it was just created, like any other technique.  
Replaces user with another object. MP used depends on user's INT, distance from object, and size of object compared with the user's size.**

 **Clone Technique (Active) LV1 EXP: 68.80%  
A technique that creates an illusionary clone, that is only useful for diversionary tactics.  
Creates a clone of the user (Illusionary). MP used depends on user's INT.**

 **Transformation Technique (Active) LV2 EXP: 32.96%  
A technique that casts an illusion over the user, changing their appearance to whatever they desire.  
Casts an illusionary veil over the user, transforming them. Can be dispelled by a touch. MP continuously used as long as the technique is active.**

Sweet! I have three skills! Wait… is that good or bad? I really have no idea, I need to find out more about this. Looking at each skill, though, all three of them referenced this MP thing. What was that? I saw it on my… description thingy, but what **was** it? Come to think of it, there was no chakra section there... And what was up with that, too? I only had 5 VIT and DEX! Although, I had no idea what that actually _meant,_ true… But that's not the point! I have 25 INT, why can't I have 25 everything? Shaking my head, I looked again, to make sure I hadn't missed anything, and it turned out I had. There was another skill, called Observe. Using it let me… observe things. More specifically, it gave me some information on whatever I used it on. I used it on a lot of the things in my room, because I like knowing new things. Didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but that's okay, I like reading the little blurby things that popped up. Although, it started to get a little annoying as they filling up my entire field of vision, and they followed me wherever I went. Gotta figure out how to close these… Oh, the red x in the top right corner. In hindsight, that was pretty obvious. I clicked on the other things on the menu, but the only thing that made any sense to me was the 'Status' thing. It brought up my description summary number thing, and also a new thing, called 'Status Effects'. I looked at that tab, and apparently I had two of them.

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) LV MAX:** **  
** **Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.** **  
** **After sleep in a bed, restore all HP, MP and status effects.**

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) LV MAX:** **  
** **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.** **  
** **Allows the user to have a peaceful state of mind.** **  
** **Grants immunity to psychological status effects.**

Wait, Gamer's Mind and Body? …Was someone pulling a prank on me? There's no way I was in a videogame or something like that. Actually, reading the effects again, it said that it lets me live the real world like a game. Cool..? I mean, I've never been one for games, so… It was cool, I guess, but not suited for me. But it's not like I knew how to get rid of it, so… I decided to go read, and I'd go to bed when I felt tired. Maybe it'd go away.

* * *

I knew something was wrong when I was on my third book of the night and I could hear birds chirping outside, and I still didn't feel the least bit tired. What? It didn't make any sense to me… Checking my clock, it was only 5:30. I could finish this one up before training.

* * *

Training was… weird. It all started out the same, me being the first there, then Sasuke-kun, then Naruto. But, strangely, though I still felt attracted to Sasuke-kun, it wasn't… overshadowing everything else, if that makes any sense. Normally, I'd run over and say hi immediately, but… I didn't. I just clearly thought out how Sasuke would react to that, so I didn't. I knew he wouldn't like it. Just the same with Naruto. He was still kinda annoying… but not as much he had been yesterday, even though he was doing the exact same thing. And I wasn't getting super mad at him over really small things. It was unusual, but I liked it. Naruto being less annoying, and I know how to approach Sasuke-kun better? Score!

The weirdest bit though was the actual training part of it. It was the same as always, running laps and target practice, but as I was throwing kunai and shuriken, a funny little box popped up in front of me.

 **Continuous work on your aim has caused your DEX to increase by one!**

I checked my status thingy, and sure enough, my DEX was now 6. And funnily enough, I hit more targets from then on. This game thing was really persistent. I'm sure it was someone playing a joke… but not getting tired was weird. And now I suddenly was calm around Naruto and… thought things through with Sasuke-kun? I checked the description of Gamer's Mind again, quickly, and it was right there, plain as day. I was definitely exhibiting the signs of it actually affecting me. And if that was real… then that meant all of it was. That was mindblowing, purely because it meant not only did I not have to sleep, but I was healed for it, too! But, thinking of the Gamer's Body, it still confused me. What did living life like a game actually mean? It was irritatingly vague… maybe it only referred to not sleeping. I dunno; I didn't really understand it, and I wouldn't pretend to. It'd clear itself up in time. Probably. And that's if this stuff really was real, and it was permanent! Although… I did think it was pretty cool.

So after all that, I decided to act as if this was real, and that it was to stay. No point going against it if I couldn't see a reason for me to, or a way to get out of it. So I Observed the rest of my team.

 **The Last Uchiha  
LV 9  
Uchiha Sasuke**

 **Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja**  
 **LV 5**  
 **Uzumaki Naruto**

 **?  
LV ?  
Hatake Kakashi **

Whoa. They were that level, and I was only at level _one_! Naruto, _Naruto_ , the guy who almost didn't even become a ninja, was 5 times my level! I couldn't even see Kakashi-sensei's level, he was that much stronger than me. And they had cool titles, too – well, except for Naruto, and I guess Kakashi-sensei too, given I couldn't, y'know, see it – while I was just stuck with 'The Gamer'. I've never played a videogame in my life, goddammit. But, uh. I could clearly see where the weak link in the team was, at least right now. And as much as I didn't like training, I didn't like being _twelve times_ weaker than Naruto of all people even more. I had some work to do. So I went up to Kakashi-sensei.

"So, sensei? Um, I was thinking about how I could become stronger? And I was wondering if you had any ideas about what I could do."

Kakashi-sensei looked at me, and did that little eye-smiley thingy he does, before responding. "You're actually in a very unique position, Sakura. You have excellent chakra control, and while you have a small chakra pool, that can easily be fixed. You could become a master genjutsu mistress, or a ninjutsu specialist, or a wonderful field medic. But you're also on the cusp of puberty, which means it's the perfect time for your muscles to truly develop. Of course, you'll be at a disadvantage against those who have been at it for longer than you, but you could easily move into the more physical arts of taijutsu and kenjutsu. I can help you with all of them, but… there are better teachers than me in Konoha. My advice to you? Don't overspecialise. Become a jounin genjutsu mistress that can match one of the Seven Swordsmen in kenjutsu. Be a master taijutsu specialist that uses defensive ninjutsu to defend against long range fighters. Make sure you always have an option, no matter who you come up against."

Wow. That was… a lot. I should've expected something like that, though, considering he is meant to be one of the Leaf's best ninja. "Well… can you help me with all four?"

"I can give you a scroll for genjutsu, and exercises to help with your chakra capacity for ninjutsu. The academy style doesn't really suit you, and before you learn kenjutsu, you'll need to pick a weapon that you want to learn first. But Might Guy is our premier taijutsu expert. He can help you. And there are many kenjutsu masters, like Uzuki Yuugao, and Gekko Hayate. I would ask around."

"But you're my sensei."

"So? That doesn't mean I'm the only one allowed to teach you. I have the final say in what you are taught, yes, but you can go and seek out other instruction."

"Okay." I smiled. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

Sitting on my bed, I sighed, staring out the window. Kakashi-sensei made it sound easy! I found Might Guy just fine, but he refused to teach me formally, unless I would like to join his personal training with one of his students. After seeing what they were doing, I vehemently refused – that stuff was insane! He agreed to give me a few pointers, and once I was 'ready', to help me pick out a style for me to use, but that was it. Gekko-san was apparently on a long-term mission, and I couldn't find any records whatsoever on Uzuki Yuugao's whereabouts, only that she was a kenjutsu mistress, like Kakashi-sensei had said. And there was no way I could afford anything even resembling a practical weapon, let alone one made out of chakra conducting materials, which I would definitely need if I was gonna be serious with my kenjutsu. It was frustrating. But, I suppose, I have that scroll Kakashi-sensei gave me. I pulled it out, unrolling it to begin reading the contents, when a window popped up.

 **Would you like to learn the skill 'Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings'? Y/N**

That was… actually to be expected, considering how the game-thingy already treated my skills. I of course tapped yes, and watched, as the scroll dissolved into blue light, and information suddenly flooded into my brain.

 **Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%**

 **Casts a veil over a defined area, changing its appearance. Anyone who steps into the area of effect falls under the genjutsu, and it cannot be disrupted from an outside source. However, those with sufficient skill can see through the illusion.  
Casts an illusionary veil over a defined area. Area of effect is variable. Maximum area of effect radius: 25 meters.**

Interesting. Seems like it could be useful, but… it wasn't really a battle technique. I suppose Kakashi-sensei wanted me to get used to genjutsu as a whole first, before giving me an actual fighting technique to learn. I can understand that. One… slight problem, however. No handseals were listed in that description, and with the scroll gone, I certainly couldn't use that to learn them… Dammit. But the ability clearly saw it as being learnt… On a whim, under my breath, I whispered the name of the technique, staring at the street outside my house, and visualising a bench in one of the bare spots beside the road. I was far outside the listed maximum radius, but, somehow, a ghostly, translucent image of the wooden bench appeared, right where I wanted it. And, as I saw a civilian come puffing down the road, look at it, and sit, only to fall through it completely, I shut off the technique.

I could use a technique I never had even used before without handseals, without any trouble. Was that just because I was good at genjutsu? Or… was it another part of the ability? Quickly, I tested out the other skills I had access to, achieving the same result. It was… insane. I'd never have to spend time learning or practicing handseals! And that may sound like it would have little to no effect, but considering that that is what ninja, on average, spend the most time on? It propelled me forward in ways that my raw stats couldn't express. It meant I could respond instantly with any technique I knew without even thinking about it. It was amazing. …Of course, though, for it to be any use, I'd need skills that could actually make a difference in most fights… I still had a long way to go.

* * *

 **AN: And here it is, folks. The first chapter of the rewrite. Oh, man, do I have plans for this story. Let's hope that we reach them this time.  
**


	2. Experience

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Experience**

In the next few days, I discovered some other things about my power, and I also researched games as a whole. It seems that my ability is based on roleplaying games, and it has all of the common features that those sorts of games show. There was even a quest system, as I found when we went to complete missions. But, they gave paltry rewards, even for me, a level one character. I suppose that was because they were D-ranks. I couldn't really expect them to make me rich and powerful, not when all the quest was is to paint some old man's fence. One good thing I noticed, though? I got double payout for missions. The quest rewards and the payment from the village for completing the mission were entirely separate. It didn't look like money would be much of an issue once I really got going, so that was nice, at least. What wasn't nice? It'd been a week, and I'd barely improved.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 1** **  
** **HP: 100/100** **  
** **MP: 50/50** **  
** **STR: 11** **  
** **VIT: 5** **  
** **DEX: 7** **  
** **INT: 26** **  
** **WIS: 10** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 0**

I suppose that could have to do with how little I was training. I'd thoroughly tested, and I knew now that I didn't have to sleep if I didn't want to. That gave me a whole extra 8 hours to train, effectively multiplying the size of my day by one and a half, but… I wasn't using it. I was just spending the time reading, and while that had helped, seeing as my INT had risen… I could be doing more. Right now, I'm only training with my team… But oh well. I'm still a genin. I won't be getting into any super tough fights for a while. I can keep on like this. My skills haven't really improved much, either… Actually, wait! I did get a new one, though it wasn't mentioned with any fanfare or anything.

 **Chakra Enhancement (Active/Passive) LV 1 EXP: 63.57%** **  
** **The manifestation of one's physical and mental halves. A power that allows mankind to break through their limits and become truly powerful. Stat increases depend on the amount of MP.** **  
** **Passively increases STR by 30%.** **  
** **Passively increases DEX by 30%.** **  
** **Passively increases VIT by 30%.** **  
** **Passively increases INT by 30%.** **  
** **Passively increases WIS by 30%.** **  
** **Additional 30% increase to STR when activated.** **  
** **Additional 30% increase to DEX when activated.** **  
** **Additional 30% increase to VIT when activated.**

I noticed I had it when I was checking my skills just yesterday. It just seemed to be the effects of chakra on the human body in skill form, so really, I've had it since I activated my chakra when I was a kid, it's just documented now. And of course, its effects become stronger as my chakra does. Simple, really. But, speaking of chakra… It's felt… weird, ever since I got my power. Not in a bad way, it's just… different. Before, it was… natural, I suppose? It was my body's latent energy made manifest, but just flowed through my body naturally, like blood in the circulatory system. But now… it doesn't flow, as much as it just permeates my body. My control over it is better than it was before, and I can feel the power right beneath my skin, a pool of energy just waiting to be unleashed. And somehow… I feel as if I can do so much more with it than I could before. The feel of it is so different, it's as if… as if it's a completely different type of energy entirely. But that's impossible… right?

* * *

I was so absorbed in my thoughts, I slammed into someone as I was walking. They fell back, and I instantly went to help them up. "Oops, sorry… Wasn't looking where I was going."

As I saw that purple hair and her eyes, I pulled my hand back. "On second thought, though, I think you deserved it."

The girl jumped up to her feet, fire in her eyes. "Oh yeah!? You think you're so much better than me, Forehead? Just because you got a jounin sensei!? Well, that doesn't mean shit! I'm still better than you. Always have been, always will be."

"That so, Ami? Because you don't look it."

 **No One's Little Baby Bear  
LV 4  
Kokuma Ami**

"You wanna bet? I could take you on! Right now!"

"Ha! Yeah, right! I've left you way behind!" All kidding aside, though… she was level four. I was still level one. She could probably easily mop the floor with me. Although that meant she was also weaker than Naruto… I feel slightly less embarrassed about that now. …But I can't back down from this. She and Ino'd never let me live it down… But if I lose, it'll be even worse. One of Hakate Kakashi's students, beaten by someone in the reserves… That'd be bad for me, and my team… Damn, so I have to win. That'll be… difficult.

"Then let's go! We'll see who's better!"

"You're on, Bear-chan!"

"Don't call me that, you bitch!"

* * *

I stood opposite her, on a training field. I really should've been feeling nerves by now, but… I was totally calm. The Gamer's Mind was damn useful. "Ready to go?"

"Of cou-" As soon as the words left her mouth, I dashed off into the underbrush. In a straight up fight, I'd lose. Ami had always been better at pure taijutsu, and Gai-sensei had yet to show me much of anything. I could hear her cursing me out for running, but whatever worked worked. She has to learn that if she wants to be a kunoichi.

* * *

It'd been a few minutes. Ami hadn't even started to go looking for me yet. I know, I'd been watching her for most of the time since I left. I looked around, searching for some means of attack… Oh, yeah. That'd do nicely. Casting the Clone technique, having it jump out from the trees in front of Ami, and charge her, caused her to rush forward to meet it. I quickly cast False Surroundings, making it seem like there was a lot more underbrush, enough to hide my approach. She dealt with the clone quickly, unsurprisingly. I flung a kunai from the branch I was watching from, and quickly moved into the genjutsu covering. She was looking in the opposite direction, at where I had thrown the weapon from. I palmed another kunai, ready to grab her and hold it at her throat-

Whoa! I quickly bent back, just in time to dodge Ami's kick. I forgot. It was an environmental genjutsu, but it wasn't auditory. She heard me approach. I jumped back into the genjutsu underbrush.

"You think I'll fall for that, huh?" She brought her hands together for the genjutsu release, perfoming it perfectly, and waited, as nothing happened. "What!?"

I smirked. It was environmental, with an area of effect. Since it wasn't therefore centred on her, she couldn't disrupt it like that. She'd need to disrupt my chakra system to do that. End result? She wasted some chakra, and still couldn't see me.

"Well, if you won't come out, I'll come to you!" She shouted, rushing recklessly into the illusionary foliage. That was a mistake. I wasn't nearly as handicapped here as she was. I could see both the genjutsu and reality as its caster, so… As soon as she was in the thick of it, I slammed her with the strongest punch I could throw without a follow through, and faded away so she couldn't retaliate. I noticed a box pop up.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through the use of powerful strikes, the skill 'Power Strike' has been created!**

So skills could come about like that, huh? Interesting. I guess that meant I could make my own. That'd be cool. I quickly read the description, it was nothing special. Just basically an enhancement I could throw onto physical attacks. I tested it out next time I hit Ami. It definitely felt like I hit her harder, so I guess it worked. I managed to get in one more hit-and-fade before she retreated out of my genjutsu. She looked worse for wear. I'd split her lip, and her eye was already starting to bruise. But she just looked angry, not defeated. So I was surprised when she surrendered.

I released False Surroundings, approaching her. "Why'd you forfeit? You could've easily kept going."

She eyed me, before sighing, slumping into a sitting position. "It wouldn't have mattered. You'd have beaten me anyway. It just became a battle of attrition, one I couldn't win if I couldn't hit you. And it's so goddamn frustrating! I've seen you train! I felt your punches! I _know_ I'm stronger than you are! So why!?"

I looked at her, before looking away, embarrassed. "If it helps, I could tell you were stronger before we even fought. But brute strength isn't everything, Ami. As you've just seen."

She spat on the ground, her saliva tinged pink with blood. "I know that. It doesn't make this any less fucking annoying!" She yelled, punching the ground in anger.

Seeing her like that, so rightfully angry… It actually made me feel bad. She had put in a lot of effort into becoming stronger, and then I come along, with almost no real dedication to my training, and beat her almost effortlessly. And why? Just because I was the lucky one. I was the one who got a jounin sensei, and wasn't put into the reserves. "Look, Ami. I'm sorry, okay? I can see that you've put so much more effort into this than I have… I actually feel kinda bad for doing this to you."

"I don't need your pity-"

"And I totally agree. But what you could do with is a sparring partner. And a friend, too. And that benefits the both of us." My hand reached out to help her up.

She looked at it, then at me. She took it, standing up. "I'll think about it. Help me get cleaned up. It's only fair, seeing as you fucked me up in the first place."

I smiled. "Sure thing."

* * *

 **So it looks like people are liking the rewrite so far! It's definitely being better received than the original was at this point, and that kind of positive response is always gratifying for a writer. Thank you all for the support!**


	3. Friendship

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Friendship**

Ami and I went over to her house, where I did help her get cleaned up, as I had agreed to. We chatted quite a bit. We weren't quite friends, not really. She still kind of hated me, actually. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. But she was willing to set aside our past for something that was mutually beneficial. And that was fine with me. I didn't necessarily want to be friends with her, she still wasn't a very nice person, or a very good one, in my opinion. So we weren't friends. Not acquaintances either, though. We knew each other too well for that.

"What's going on in that huge head of yours, Pinky? You aren't paying attention to anything." Yeah, like that. She could tell I was thinking. Definitely not acquaintances.

"Just trying not to choke from your smell, Bear-chan."

"Tch." She scoffed, spitting on the ground. I mean, it was her bathroom, so… Whatever.

"Do you even have a sensei?"

"No one'd take me, the blowhards. The only reserve from our class that has been picked is Namiki. I think by now everyone else's dropped out of the ninja programme altogether. What with having, like, 7 noble clan heirs in our class?"

"Six." I softly corrected. "Kiba isn't the heir to the Inuzuka, and Sasuke technically isn't the Uchiha heir, either. Having eight head family clan children though, I can see why that might discourage a few people."

"Whatever, it all means the same thing. You, Uzumaki and I, we're the only ones left without their advantages. So we've gotta work together to make sure we keep up."

"I'm not sure if Naruto'll need the help. He's already better than you are in a straight up fight."

"Eh? And how the hell would you know that? We barely fought, and I haven't sparred with Uzumaki in ages."

"Just trust me on that one. I have a certain… knack, for sizing people up at a glance." Ami grumbled, but didn't comment further. I idly ran my hand through my hair. I haven't been keeping as good care of it as I should be. Although, I haven't really felt the urge. Impressing Sasuke with my looks has been more of a general thing to keep in mind rather being the first and foremost thing to care about in the world, although it's still important. "How many people did you ask to be your sensei?"

"A couple of jounin and tokubetsu from my clan. They all turned me down. Said I wasn't good enough."

"Why not a chunin?"

"You serious? Why would I waste time with the small fry when I can get straight to the good shit?"

"Isn't small fry better than nothing at all?" She didn't respond for a while.

"Fine. I'll ask a chunin, or one of the more experienced genin if they turn me down. Happy?"

"As long as you become a better sparring partner."

* * *

I did actually want her to become better. After all, genin reserves were called that for a reason. As much as I didn't really like her, I still didn't want her to die on her first mission, or anything like that. The second reason was admittedly, entirely selfish. I had gotten experience from that fight. Enough, in fact, to push me over the threshold into my second level.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 2** **  
** **HP: 100/100** **  
** **MP: 50/50** **  
** **STR: 11** **  
** **VIT: 5** **  
** **DEX: 7** **  
** **INT: 26** **  
** **WIS: 10** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 5**

I glanced at the status screen. From what I had read, these points were a common feature – they allowed me some control over how I grew in strength. The only question was – how should I use them? Should I raise my flagging physical stats? Increase my relatively sky-high INT? Increase my WIS to better know how to use that intelligence? Or become luckier? There were so many options.

In the end, though… I decided that at least for now, focusing on my strong points was best. However, since INT and WIS went hand in hand… I dumped all five points into WIS. My MP went up after I did, too, so it seemed that INT was linked to chakra control, and WIS to chakra capacity. Makes sense. Explains why my chakra control was so good, with my super high INT for a level 2.

It wasn't that large of a difference, though. I had thought it'd be a pretty big boost, seeing it was a pretty large boost to my starting WIS, but nope. It seemed to be an exponential scale, not a linear one. Which was fine, actually. It'd take longer to get stronger, but at the end of it all, I'd be even better than I would've been. How strong that was exactly though, I didn't know. Not yet, anyway.

* * *

The days went by like they normally had, with the added addition of sparring with Ami every once in a while. She definitely found a sensei, because she had risen in level, and beat me every time. Good for her, but unluckily for me, the experience I gained was drastically reduced because I lost each bout. Which kinda sucked. I was getting stronger, slowly, but I could easily see that levels were where I'd gain the most raw stats, and skills were what I needed to use them to best effect. I was levelling up my skills, and my base stats were increasing, but it was definitely slow going. Kakashi-sensei said my progress was admirable… for a genin. So, pretty awful. Naruto and Sasuke-kun didn't get that from him. It kinda sucked. But what could I really do?

* * *

Two weeks after he gave me that advice, Kakashi-sensei asked to see my False Surroundings. From using it a few times more on Ami, and in my own practice, I had gotten it to level 5. He seemed impressed when I showed him. "Very good. Work on it a bit more. Two more weeks and I'll give you a new jutsu."

I deflated a tad. I thought he was coming over to give me a new one now…

* * *

After that, I sat on my bed, thinking hard. Just waiting for Kakashi-sensei wasn't good enough. I'd never catch up at that rate. But how else could I gain skills... Wait. I remembered when I fought Ami, a skill had been created. Power Strike. I'd just accepted it then, and then just thoughtlessly used it since. But, why had it suddenly shown up? Was it simply because I… Actually, yes, it must've been. I had consciously concentrated chakra into my fist for that attack, and the moment it landed, I had the skill box pop up. And it specifically said that the skill had been created by a special action, in this case a chakra enhanced attack. So… if I could think up special moves and execute them, I could gain new skills that way. But… what could I do?

After a few days of constantly having that thought in the back of my mind, the only idea I had had was the one that had made me decide to put my points into WIS – to play to my strengths. In other words, something involving chakra control. Technically, that's all Power Strike was – internal chakra control. So, to balance that out... I'd make something involving external control. I put my hand out, trying to form a ball of chakra, forcing it to form above my hand. Some chakra began to coalesce, but it quickly fizzled out. Well, it looked like I had a challenge on my hands.

* * *

It took a lot longer than I thought it would to form a stable ball of chakra, long enough that Kakashi-sensei had already given me a new genjutsu by the time I had figured it out.

 **Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The user casts an illusion created from the target's nightmares, showing them scenes of their deepest fears.  
Ensnares a target in an illusion from their subconscious. Paralyses a target who does not realise it is an illusion.**

But it had worked. I had the ball, and I gained a new skill of my own creation!

 **Magic Bullet (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The user forms a bullet of pure energy and fires it. Although it is weak, it is incredibly adaptable. Damage increases with level. Damage increases with INT and WIS.  
Deals non-elemental damage.**

* * *

Having both of these under my belt now, I walked into the usual training ground with some new confidence. Ami was already there, as usual.

 **No One's Little Baby Bear  
LV 5  
Kokuma Ami**

"Ready, Forehead?"

"You know it, Bear-chan!"

She charged me, as per usual. But this time, I stood my ground. I could tell it surprised her, because she slowed for a second, and then I acted, rushing her, and vaulting over her. A Magic Bullet formed in my hand, and I threw it right at her back. She stumbled, whipping her head back and glaring at me, before retreating a bit. It had seemed to annoy her more than deal damage, disappointingly. It was annoying, but expected. I cast Hell Viewing on her to buy more time, but she froze. And then she _screamed_. I dispelled the technique immediately, but she was already on the ground, in tears. And if she was in tears, then well. I definitely did something bad.

* * *

I took her home. She was almost inconsolable, and her father's eyes hardened when I had told him what happened. He was definitely angry, but… oddly, not at me, even though it was my fault. He was definitely focused on someone else. Perhaps the person that caused Ami's fear. I don't even know what she saw. I was focused on her, and then I was focused on dispelling the technique. I still felt awful. When I asked if there was any way I could help, he gave me an once-over.

 **?  
** **LV ?  
** **Kokuma Shin**

"You're my daughter's friend, yes?"

"W-Well, I wouldn't really-"

"Good! Then I need you to try and help calm her down and tell her what happened when she does. I need to have a word with someone, so I'll see you later." And he left without another word. I sighed. Just my luck.

* * *

Their house was pretty big, although that wasn't really a surprise. The Kokuma were a minor clan of merchants and shinobi, and Kokuma Shin – Ami's father – was the head of the shinobi branch, although he was retired now.

I took her up to her room, and tried talking to her, to get her to stop crying. But she barely even responded. Idly, I wondered if what she had seen had had something to do with her mom. She'd died when we were much younger. Apparently it had been due to a 'clan dispute'. That's as much as anyone had managed to get out of Ami about it in years. She really hated talking about it.

* * *

After ten minutes or so, the crying seemed to slow, and eventually stopped. I, of course, started talking. "Are you okay, Ami? You suddenly screamed in our spar, and started crying, so I-"

"Yeah… I remember." She quietly stated, looking haggard. "Thanks for helping me out, Sakura."

If her face hadn't tipped me off, now I'd know she wasn't okay. I don't think she'd ever called me Sakura before in her life. "Hey, Ami, are you sure you're-"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Where's my dad." Her voice was completely flat. I couldn't detect any emotion in it whatsoever, and it frightened me a bit.

"He left. He said he had to talk to someone."

"…Fine." She stated, getting up. "You can go home. I'll see you when I see you."

"No, I'll wait. At least until your dad comes back. I'm a bit worried about you."

At that, I saw a flicker of emotion in her eyes. But it died almost instantly, and she smiled, but her eyes kept their dead look. "I can take care of myself, Forehead. I'm not a damn kid." There wasn't any fire to her words, no real emotion. She definitely wasn't okay, and I couldn't leave her alone like that.

But it didn't seem like she was giving me a choice.

"Seriously, Sakura. Thank you for the help. I'm okay now, so you can go and get some rest. I'm sure that taking care of me tired you out, so please." It's really weird that emotionless Ami seems to care about me a lot more than regular Ami does.

"I'm fine, Ami. I just want to be sure that-"

"I am fine, Sakura. Go home."

"Ami-"

"If you're my friend, you'll respect my wishes." That-one through me for a loop. She considered us friends?

"Ami, I can't leave you like this."

"…So you're not my friend. Good to know. Fine, whatever. Do as you like." What had been emotionless before suddenly grew cold. Had I really just made her dislike me by staying here?

"Ami, a good friend wouldn't leave you here when you're so clearly not okay."

"Yes. And a real friend would listen to me and respect my decisions, no matter how stupid they may sound. So, Sakura. Are you a good friend, or a real one?"

That question stumped me. I didn't want her to be alone, but on the other hand, she really wanted to be. I…

"…Fine. I'll go. But you better come over to my house later so I can see that you're okay."

She smiled then. Really, actually smiled. "Thank you. I'll do that."

I nodded, and left.


	4. Excitement

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Excitement**

I put my worries over Ami in the back of my mind. I had more important things to focus on, cold as that may sound, and we weren't close, anyway. _Even though she's probably the person my age who knows me best right now._ I ignored the thought. There was nothing I could do for her, and even if there had been, she clearly hadn't wanted me to do it. I just ignored it by throwing myself into training with my team, which garnered raised eyebrows with… well, everyone. I had been training harder, sure, but that didn't say much when before I'd barely finish our set of laps before swooning over Sasuke-kun for the rest of the day. So for me to suddenly throw myself into training with determination that rivalled Naruto's, even if only for one day… People got suspicious.

"What's up with you, Sakura-chan? I swear you hated training like this!"

I rolled my eyes at his annoying – but true – statement. "People are allowed to change, Naruto. I've just decided to finally give this my all."

"People change, true. But not as fast as you have." I turned, looking at Kakashi-sensei. He was staring at me, and I couldn't figure out if he was trying to dissect me like that, or if he was just miffed he wasn't reading his book. "Are you trying to run away from something, perhaps? You're throwing yourself into training to avoid thinking about it?"

I gaped. He'd got it in one. Was I that easy to read..? "…Yes, sensei. It is something like that."

"Well, I won't pry. But I can tell you this. Running away from things won't magically fix them. You'll have to face whatever it is eventually. Got it?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Good." I nodded, and turned to go back to training. "Oh, and Sakura? I hope that you don't let yourself down in your training. That would be a waste." Kakashi-sensei said, returning to his book.

"What did that mean?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"He means that he expects me to keep training like I have been today. He won't do anything if I don't, but he'd be disappointed. And he has a point…"

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 2** **  
** **HP: 160/160** **  
** **MP: 60/60** **  
** **STR: 12** **  
** **VIT: 8** **  
** **DEX: 10** **  
** **INT: 26** **  
** **WIS: 15** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 0**

I was a lot stronger than I had been. And today alone had already gotten me two stat-ups, and netted me these…

 **Physical Endurance (Passive) LV3 EXP: 32:38%  
One's ability to endure attacks from others. Damage resistance increases with level.  
Decreases damage from physical attacks by 6.25%.  
Decreases damage from elemental attacks by 4%.**

 **Taijutsu Mastery (Passive) LV2 EXP: 21.83%  
One's ability in the art of taijutsu, and various other martial arts and hand to hand techniques. Damage increases with level.  
Damage dealt by physical attacks done with the body increases by 5%.**

I wondered briefly why Taijutsu Mastery never appeared in my spars with Ami, but then I realised that all I had really hit her with were sloppy punches and weak kicks, with no real form, or grace. I suppose my powers wanted me to be fighting with at least a semblance of whatever ability it was going to grant to me. Which was fair enough. "Naruto, let's have another spar!"

"Huh? Uh, I don't wanna fight you, Sakura-chan-" I sighed, grabbing his arm and pulling him to the clearing that our team used for sparring. Sasuke-kun was there already, practicing fire jutsu off to the side. I felt his eyes on me for a second, and my face heated up. I tried to ignore the butterflies that rose in my stomach. It'd been a while since he had that effect on me. It wasn't… entirely unwelcome, but it was annoying. I had a spar to focus on, dammit!

…Where did that outburst come from? Anyway, I looked at Naruto, making some distance in between us. "Come on, you idiot. Time to fight!" I shouted, rushing him. It caught him off guard, I think, and I slugged him right in the jaw with a Power Strike, knocking him on his ass. I bounced up and down waiting for him to get up, feeling strangely full of energy. And I had the perfect punching bag to take it out on! …Wait, what-

In my moment of confusion, Naruto created 5 clones. I registered them dully, but I was thinking back to what had just flitted through my mind. Naruto? A punching bag? Two of the clones came at me. About damn time, too! I hit one like I had the original, kicked another, and then cast my bush False Surroundings like I had against Ami.

 **Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings has increased in level by 1!**

 **Chakra Enhancement has increased in level by 1!**

I dismissed the windows with a snarl, even though it reminded me to activate Chakra Enhancement. Naruto and his clones looked confused, looking around, trying to find me. I threw a kunai at one, and I stuck him in the eye. Good thing that was a clone.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through continuous use of ranged weapons, the skill 'Throwing Weapons Mastery' has been created!**

I growled, swiping away that window too. They were so annoying sometimes! I charged one of the clones once again, catching him off guard and dispelling him. The last one hit me, though, so I hit him back. Hard. When he dispelled, I shut off False Surrondings, and immediately got him with Hell Viewing. I rushed at him, knocked him down, dispelling my genjutsu, and held him down, a kunai to his throat. I grinned. "I win."

 **Your level has increased by one!**

"Whoa." That's all he said. I think he was a bit overwhelmed.

Sasuke-kun just scoffed, but when I looked his way, he gave me a nod. I nodded back, and quickly looked away before he saw me blush like some pre-pubescent schoolgirl.

Wait, I… what? I got off Naruto, confused. Why was I-

"That was so cool, Sakura-chan! I barely knew what was going on!" I smirked.

"Heh, that's because I'm awesome."

"Hey, you wanna go on a date later?"

"I'll think about it." Wait, what? What am I saying? What's going on with me today? "Actually, no, not a date. I'll hang out with you, though." That's… better.

"Really!? AWESOME!"

"Hey, calm down, you idiot. Don't get too excited."

* * *

I trailed behind Naruto, lost in thought. What was going on with me? I was so aggressive when I was sparring with him, and I'm still not sure if I'm entirely in control of myself. But… I must be, right? The Gamer's Mind would protect me from any outside influences trying to control how I think. It must just be because I'm worried about Ami. That's the only explanation.

We passed by a clothes shop, on the way to what I assumed was Ichi-whatever, that ramen joint Naruto liked. "Hey, Naruto, can we go in here? I want to see what's inside."

He grinned at me. "Sure!"

* * *

I'd never actually been in here before. It seemed mainly to be formalwear, with stuff like irotomesode and kurotomesode kimonos dominating the main part of the store, but I could see more casual things at the back. I headed for there, looking around to see if there was anything that I might like, and my eyes were drawn to a pink scarf. It was lighter than my hair, light enough that it was almost white. It was rather small, small enough that if I wrapped it around my neck the ends of it didn't even hang down. I thought it looked great on me. "Naruto, how do I look?" I said, spinning around. "…Naruto? Hey, idiot, where are you?" He wasn't in the store. Did he ditch me? The storeowner had left, too… I marched out of the store, only to see the owner berating Naruto, and him looking miserable. What did he do?

I started going over to see what the idiot had done, when I saw the man raise his hand to slap Naruto. I ran over and caught it. "Hey, what the fuck!? What'd he do?" I yelled, barely restraining myself from punching the guy as hard as I could.

He scowled at me. " _Of course,_ the only person who would associate with _him_ is someone rude and disrespectful like you. That makes perfect sense." He snatched the scarf off my neck. "I'll be taking that back. One such as you doesn't deserve it."

"What the hell! I have the money to pay for that, why can't I have it?"

"Oh, really? You have 500,000 ryo?"

"The price tag says 50,000!"

"That was from yesterday's sale." He waved his hand dismissively. "Do you have the money or not, child?"

I growled. I fished out all the money I had and gave it to him. "Here."

He seemed surprised, taking it in stride. "Fine, take it." He said, returning the scarf. "I would say thank you for your patronage, but frankly, I don't want the likes of _you_ in my store ever again. Don't come back." And with that, he stalked off, going back into his store.

"Asshole." The two of us flatly stated, both of us looking at one other and laughing. "I'm flat broke now, Naruto. I don't think I can go for ramen with you."

"Don't worry about it! I'll pay!" I blinked at his generosity, but just shrugged.

"If you say so."

"Yeah! Where did you even get that much, anyway?"

"Oh, you know, my allowance and savings, stuff like that..."

* * *

"Welcome! Oh, hey there, Naruto-kun. Is she your friend?" said the woman at the counter of the ramen stand. Clearly, Naruto came here a lot, if they were so friendly with each other.

 **The Ramenneur's Daughter  
LV1  
Ichiraku Ayame**

Naruto nodded, and opened his mouth. Instantly, I knew he was going to say something stupid.

"Yeah! She's my teammate and my gi-" I clamped my hand over his mouth.

"I'm his teammate." I drawled. "We're just hanging out together, nothing more."

She laughed. "I see. Well, what can I get for you two?"

"The usual!"

"One bowl of miso, please."

"Got it! Two bowls of miso, one tonkotsu, and one shio, coming up! Dad!" She shouted, going into the back.

I looked at Naruto. "Three is your usual? Really?"

"Yeah!"

I shook my head in wonder.

* * *

The ramen was pretty good. I don't even normally like it, but I enjoyed it from that place. I guess Naruto has good taste. He didn't even have to pay for me. The man – Teuchi – said that "First bowl's on the house for any friend of Naruto-kun's!" They clearly thought very highly of him. To be honest, I think that's the real reason he keeps coming back. They cared. And for someone like Naruto, that's a very rare and very valuable thing.

"Anything else you wanna do while we're out and about?"

"Not really, no."

"Alright. Walk me home." I stated roughly, starting on my way to my house, Naruto scrambling after me.

* * *

"I'll see you later. Don't get into trouble, alright, idiot?" I stated, outside my door.

He frantically nodded. "See you tomorrow, Sakura-chan!" I smiled at him, and headed inside.

"Sakura!" My mom called. "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Sure thing, mom!" I said, walking into the kitchen where she was washing dishes. "What's up?"

 **Haruno Representative  
LV 2  
Haruno Mebuki **

She put down the dish in her hand, turning around to smile at me. "How was your day, dear?"

"It was okay. Trained pretty hard. Hung out with a friend afterwards."

"Mm, and where did you get that scarf? Did your 'friend' get that for you?"

"No, mom, I bought it myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Aww, that's too bad."

I rolled my eyes. "I thought this was gonna be about something important."

"It is! Knowing how your day went is of the utmost importance to me!"

"Yeah, yeah. I ate while I was out, so don't bother making food for now. I'll say when I'm hungry."

"Okay. Honey, are you alright? You seem more… forceful."

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, sweetie. Just making sure." I nodded, turning to go up to my room. "Say hi to Naruto-kun for me next time you see him!"

I rolled my eyes again. I knew she had been watching me.

* * *

I bounced on the balls of my feet, leaping up into a kick, then flowing into a leg sweep. Two punches, and then an uppercut. Right hook and a roundhouse kick. Idly, I wondered if shadowboxing would-

 **Taijutsu Mastery has increased in level by 1!**

I dismissed the window with a smile, returning to my frenetic battle against an imaginary opponent. I still felt full of energy, and I needed a release for it.

"Go, Sakura! Show that air who's boss. You can do it!"

I turned, looking at who had walked in behind me. "Hey, Dad."

 **Proud Father  
LV 18  
Haruno Kizashi**

He came up to me and wrapped me in a bear hug. I decided to let him. He had just come back from a mission, after all. It was a B-rank, to be fair. Even though my dad's only a genin, and probably always will be, experience in the field means a lot. "How was the mission?"

"Same as always. Boring. I stayed with the client while the chunin dealt with any threats."

"That sucks. They should let you do something every once in a while."

"I know, right? Just because they're higher ranked."

"Hey, dad? Wanna spar with me after dinner?"

"Sure thing. I was wondering when you were gonna ask me something along those lines."

"Yeah, I-" I stopped, after hearing something hit my window. "Hold on, dad." I went to check who it was, my father following curiously behind me. I opened my window, and looked outside, to see Ami there, looking sheepish. "Oh, okay." I vaulted out of the window, landing in front of her. "Hey. You alright now?"

"Yeah… Listen, sorry about being such a wuss yesterday. And, uh, forget anything I said to you afterwards. I wasn't thinkin' straight."

"Oh, so we're not friends then? Disappointing."

"Huh? Uh." She blushed, hard. Was she actually embarrassed about this? "I mean, we can still be friends. If you want, that is."

"Oh, so I'm the dominant one in this relationship? Interesting, interesting."

She blushed again, and tried to respond, but only got more tongue-tied. "Alright, Ami. Friends. Wanna come in? Dinner'll probably be ready soon."

"Uh. Sure. Thanks, Sakura."

"Sure thing, Bear-chan."

"Stop calling me that, you bitch!"

Ahh, there she is.

* * *

 **AN: And here's the next chapter for you all! I'd just like to answer a few questions here: yes, there definitely will be pairings, and they've already been decided. I've actually planned out this story to somewhat after the Shippuden timeskip, although it hasn't all been written yet. If anyone is worried this will be a rehash of canon, I can promise you that it isn't.**

 **Also, I received a question in the former version of this story about bloodlines, it being if Sakura can create them. The answer is somewhat. She can't do anything that she would have to change her body for, so something like the Sharingan is off-limits. However, combined chakra natures and the like are fair game.**

 **Finally, if you notice Sakura having a skill you don't remember her getting, or learning about, that's purely my fault, as that would be a skill she should have at that point and the only reason she doesn't is because I forgot to give it to her. I will be adding these to past chapters, though, so anyone reading this in the future won't notice. Thankfully, there aren't many, and I actually resolved the issue for a few of those skills in this chapter.**

 **Thank you all so much for taking the time out to read my story. The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and that's incredibly gratifying for a writer. Again, thank you all so much, and I'll see you again in the next chapter.**


	5. Encounter

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Encounter**

"So, you're one of Sakura's friends?" My mom asked. "Are you a ninja too?"

"Yeah, to both questions. I'm only in the reserves, though. My team got failed by my first sensei, and I was the only one who decided to stay in the ninja program."

"I see. Well, that's still very impressive for one as young as you! I heard on average it takes two or three tries just for someone to get in the reserves."

That's when I decided to chime in. "Yeah, our year was weirdly good. I mean, Naruto was our dead-last, and he was actually quite good when it came down to it, enough that either he was misplaced, or we were just good enough that 'good' for a regular year was 'bad' for us." _Which I don't believe for a second. I was awful when I left the academy, and I was top kunoichi. It doesn't make sense. Hinata, Aya-san, or Ino-pig should've easily been able to take that from me. Maybe how we were evaluated was just strange, or something like that._

Ami looked at me, and nodded. "Sakura's right, yeah. We had a really high number of clan kids, too. Maybe that contributed as well."

"Probably not as much as you think. If it was because of that, then only they would have been such high-quality ninja. But there's no real point to this. By the time another class graduates, we'll be much stronger anyways, so there's no point in comparing."

"Well," My father started, clearing his throat, "For what it's worth, your graduating class has some of the strongest chakra I've seen in rookies for years. The two of you, your chakra probably rivals last year's top kunoichi's chakra right now."

"Really? Maybe your senses are just out of whack, dad."

"Haha! Maybe they are, Sakura-chan." My dad rubbed the back of his head as he laughed.

My mom moved out of the room where we had been chatting, moving back to the kitchen to check on the food. "Hey, dad. What do you specialise in apart from sensing?"

"Hmm? Well, sensing requires a lot of control, so I have some skill in genjutsu and medical ninjutsu. I'm no combat ninja, though. Although I'm sure I could take you on any day of the week." He said, ruffling my hair.

"Medical ninjutsu, huh?" Ami asked, seeming pensive.

"You wanna learn that, Bear-chan?"

"Stop calling me that. And yeah, it seems kinda interesting."

My dad smiled. "I can give the two of you a book each on the basics. You might not have the control needed just yet, though."

I looked at Ami. She didn't seem opposed to the idea. I grinned at my dad. "Sure, dad. Why not?"

"Alright. I'll go get the books now." With that, he left, moving upstairs to get the books.

Ami and I sat in silence for a while, until she suddenly spoke up. "Your parents are nice."

"Your dad's pretty okay, too."

"Nah. He's annoying. And weird."

"You think my dad isn't?"

"Not as much as my dad."

"Just wait until you get to know him better. Then you'll see."

We would've continued, if not for my dad coming back with the books. "Here you are!" He handed a book to each of us, smiling as he did so. "Don't hesitate to come to me for help if you need it."

A window popped up as soon as I laid hands on the thing.

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Basics of Medicine'.**

 **Would you like to learn the skills in this book?**

I discretely tapped 'No', placing the book in my pocket. It wouldn't do to have the book disappear in a flash of light right in front of everyone. "Thanks, dad!"

"Everyone! Dinner's ready!"

* * *

Dinner was quick, since the portions were smaller than normal due to our unexpected guest. That was alright, though. Dad and I headed out to the garden to have our spar, and Ami and mom came out to watch.

"Alright, here are some rules! Taijutsu, genjutsu, and academy ninjutsu only. We don't want to mess up the garden with some elemental techniques, and using live weapons is just looking for someone to get injured. Alright, Sakura-chan?"

"Got it." I settled into the academy taijutsu stance – I've really got to take up Guy-sensei on his offer on finding a style sometime – and got ready for him to approach. He chuckled, flowing into his own stance, and not moving. I sighed. I charged him, putting up False Surroundings as I did so. I cocked my arm back for a punch… and was suddenly on the ground.

I leapt to my feet. "I thought you weren't a combat specialist? I didn't even see you move!"

"I'm not. That was me without holding back, you know. The fact you're fine after taking a hit like that should show you I'm not combat oriented."

He had a point. It was a lightning-fast attack, but it wasn't really any worse than a hit from Naruto, or Ami. So dad's stats leaned towards DEX, then? And INT, for his chakra-related abilities. This time, I began circling him warily, looking for a weak point in his defences, when my vision swirled. I instantly flexed my chakra, and released it, breaking the genjutsu. No skill pop-up? Oh well. With a start, I realised dad's fist was inches away from my face, and I darted away at the last second, retaliating with a Power Strike of my own. He dodged it as well, tilting his head back, and I retreated.

I cast Hell Viewing, but it just flowed off him like water. Suddenly, I was lifted off the ground with a monster of an uppercut, and knocked away with a roundhouse. I heard a noise of concern, but I wasn't sure if it was from Ami or from my mother. I tried to use the momentum of the kick to flip, and land on my feet, but my dad didn't let up. I hadn't even hit the ground before he was on me again, rearing back for a huge punch. I crossed my arms for a block, and successfully defended, although my flight got an extension.

 **Physical Endurance has increased in level by one!**

I skidded across the garden, through a flower patch. Sorry, mom. I looked up at my dad. He seemed to be waiting. Well, technically, I unlocked my chakra in the academy, so… I activated Chakra Enhancement, and rushed at my dad in a burst of newfound speed, going as fast as I possibly could.

 **Continuous pushing of your limits has caused your VIT to increase by one!**

 **Continuous high speed movement has caused your DEX to increase by one!**

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through high speed, the skill 'Lunge' has been created!**

Well, this is already pretty lucrative! Dad seemed surprised by the sudden burst of speed, but still dodged, but I immediately Lunged at him again, and scored my first hit on him. He barely moved. I was expecting him to at least flinch, or something, but nothing. With my fist still in his face, my dad grinned at me. "Well done, Sakura-chan. You win!"

I stared at him. "Really? I don't remember me hitting you being the condition for my win."

"You think you can win any other way?"

I flinched. "Okay, true, but still, that's kinda the point of a spar."

"We can't have a full on spar here, Sakura. You know that."

"Ugh, fine." I relented, moving my fist away from my father's face. "Thanks for the spar, dad."

He smiled at me. My mom decided to speak up then. "Okay, I think that's enough excitement for one day. Sakura, why don't you take your friend home now?"

"No, I can walk myself home."

I turned to her, smiling. "Let me at least see you out."

"Fine."

* * *

I waved bye to Ami, standing at the half-way point between our houses. I smiled, and began walking home, pulling out Dad's book again. This time, I selected 'Yes' to the prompt, and as the book shattered into light and information flowed into my brain, boxes appeared in front of me, as always.

 **You have obtained the skill 'Medical Mastery'.**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Diagnosis'.**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Mystical Palm Technique'.**

 **Medical Mastery (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
One's proficiency in the medical arts. Increases the effectiveness of medical techniques.  
Increases the healing of recovery techniques by 1%.  
Increases the chance of a successful diagnosis by 1%.  
Increases the chance of removing a negative status effect by 1%.**

 **Diagnosis (Active and Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The ability to detect what is wrong with a patient first from symptoms, and then by checking their body.  
Passively allows the skill 'Observe' to list status effects and HP of anyone lower level than yourself.  
Actively allows the user to check status effects, HP, and MP of anyone by touching them.**

 **Mystical Palm Technique (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The basic ninja technique for healing wounds, this skill is any medic-nin's bread and butter.  
Restores HP to whoever the user is laying hands on. Recovery increases with INT.**

Three skills, huh? Big payout for one book. And Diagnosis… Well, it wasn't checking out other people's stats, but it was pretty good. Any buff to Observe was appreciated.

* * *

We had a day off, seeing as Kakashi-sensei said we'd be taking two missions the day after, and we hadn't really had any time off yet. So, instead of training all the way through the night as I normally did – thanks, Gamer's Body – I actually went to sleep for once.

 **You have slept in a bed! HP and MP restored, and negative status effects removed.**

That was an unfamiliar pop up. I closed it, and got dressed, preparing for a day of wandering the village. Maybe Ami'd wanna hang out. I doubt Sasuke would. Naruto'd definitely be up for it, but I'd just hung out with him the day before… Decisions, decisions. I was so lost in thought that I bumped into someone on the street. Again. Except this time, it was a little girl.

"Shit," I swore under my breath. I quickly went to help her up. "Are you okay?" I asked, worry lining my voice.

"I'm fine, Haruno-san." She said, picking up her glasses and wiping them on her shirt.

"Huh? Do I…" I looked up, at her name and title.

 **Lone Wolf  
LV 10  
Namiki Aya**

"Oh! Aya-san!" I said, surprised. I hadn't imagined running into her any time soon.

"Yeah, that's my name. If you don't mind…" She tried to slip past me, but I stopped her.

"It's been a while, Aya-san. How are you? I heard you were in the reserves, but you have a sensei."

"Yes, Yoshino-sensei."

"Yoshino?" I quickly went through a list of people, thinking of any Yoshino's that I knew of. "Nara Yoshino? Shikamaru's mom?"

"Mm. I have to go meet her now. Excuse me."

I watched, as she walked away to go train. She was still just as anti-social as she had been in the academy. Well, she didn't seem as prone to violence, at least. It seemed her sensei was a good influence. And she was the same level as Sasuke, as well, so she was tied for strongest in our graduating class right now. Damn, and she didn't even have a jonin-sensei. Though I suppose having a chunin who was focused solely on you was pretty comparable…

Hmm. I still have a lot of catching up to do, if I've only gained two levels in all this time… Although, my skills were all at quite high levels, relatively. Maybe that's what I should focus on. If I got more buffing skills, like Chakra Enhancement, I could stack all of them to artificially inflate my stats, and that would just make every base point I did gain even more valuable. Thinking about it, though, I was well on my way to that anyway. A lot of my skills involved passive bonuses that applied to my active skills. Chakra Enhancement was the only one that buffed my stats directly, sure, but since I would pretty much never not be using a skill, they were just as important.

Well. I think I know what I'm doing today.


	6. Research

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Research**

Stepping into the jutsu library, I showed my headband to the secretary that guarded the genin section. She nodded, and I stepped through, to look at the various jutsu on display. Mainly, it was genjutsu and supplementary, weaker ninjutsu. Hmm. Maybe there would be something useful. There were a few taijutsu scrolls scattered around, and some kenjutsu scrolls, too. However, most of the taijutsu scrolls were available for all to look at, and kenjutsu, the best and most complicated genjutsu, and most ninjutsu C-rank and beyond were out of my reach, in the chunin and jonin sections.

I understood why, of course.

Letting a genin look at elemental jutsu unsupervised was just asking for trouble. How many cases of academy students and rookies burning off their own tongues would there be if the access to them was unrestricted? Taijutsu was much more lax, because while you could still hurt yourself with those arts, it was much harder, and the injuries less severe. And even then, the more dangerous and obscure taijutsu was kept here, or in the chunin section, when whoever was looking could be trusted to train right with them.

Speaking of, though… I looked through the genin and public sections, looking for taijutsu that interested me. I decided to actually read the scrolls, ignoring the popups asking me if I wanted to learn the styles, looking at what kind of style was actually described in each scroll. One caught my eye. Or, should I say, one series.

There was a single scroll describing the regular moves of the style, and then multiple describing more and more powerful specific techniques useable by practitioners. The style shouldn't have been in the genin section. The style itself and the first few special moves were fine, but the last ones? They, apparently, consumed chakra at such an intense rate, that they described a supplementary technique to directly convert lifeforce into chakra so regular people could actually use it for a reasonable amount of time. Apparently, the principle was based on something called the Celestial Gates, but it was at the same time safer and more dangerous. Apparently, it didn't damage the body nearly as fast as these gates, but this technique was regulated by nothing but the user and how far they thought they could go. It wouldn't shut itself off until the user said so… or until they were dead. And my ability wouldn't give a specific option to learn solely that technique… I suppose it fused it with the final techniques of the style.

Morbid. But… it was exactly what I wanted. It was a taijutsu style, so that was an auto-buff to my physical attacks. And almost all the skills were buffs… so… I took it.

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Suzaku'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Vermillion Bird's Wings'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Vermillion Bird's Beak'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Vermillion Bird's Grace'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Vermillion Bird's Talons'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Feathers of the Vermillion Bird'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Dawn of the Vermillion Bird'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **You have obtained the skill book 'Vermillion Bird of the South'. Would you like to learn this skill?**

I mashed yes to all of them, of course, making sure I was in a hidden corner.

 **You have obtained the skill 'Suzaku'.**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Vermillion Bird's Wings'.**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Vermillion Bird's Beak'.**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Vermillion Bird's Grace'.**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Vermillion Bird's Talons'.**

 **You have obtained the skill 'Feathers of the Vermillion Bird'.**

 **You do not meet the requirements to learn this skill.**

 **You do not meet the requirements to learn this skill.**

Whoa… Six skills… Before I checked them out, though, I checked the requirements for the two I wasn't able to learn, Dawn of the Vermillion Bird and Vermillion Bird of the South.

 **You must reach these requirements to learn this skill:**

 **STR - 50**

 **DEX - 40**

 **VIT – 30**

 **INT – 30**

 **You must reach these requirements to learn this skill:**

 **STR - 80**

 **DEX - 60**

 **VIT – 45**

 **INT – 50**

 **WIS – 50**

Yikes. Definitely long term goals. Though I could hit Down's INT requirement with the points I have stored… Regardless, I got a huge payout.

 **Suzaku (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The taijutsu style of the Vermillion Bird of the South, Tori Shuiro, also known as Suzaku. The style is named after his own moniker, as Suzaku never named his style whilst he was still alive.  
Decreases MP costs of all Vermillion Bird skills by 5%.  
Increases damage dealt by all Vermillion Bird skills by 5%.**

 **Vermillion Bird's Wings (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The speed technique used by Suzaku, this technique is integral to the high speed, high power taijutsu style.  
Increases movement speed by 30%.  
Increases attack speed by 50%.**

 **Vermillion Bird's Beak (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The primary form of attack of Suzaku's style. The user strikes the enemy hard and fast, in a piercing motion.  
May pierce the enemy.  
Damage increases with STR and DEX.**

 **Vermillion Bird's Grace (Active and Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The ability granted by sheer practice of Suzaku's style, that allows practitioners to gracefully dance over the battlefield, like the bird for which the style is named.  
Passively increases DEX by 50%.  
Passively increases jumping distance by 100%.  
When active, increases DEX by a further 100%.**

 **Vermillion Bird's Talons (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The art of sharpening chakra around one's hand, as taught by Suzaku to his followers. This way, it becomes possible to inflict bladelike wounds with one's bare hands.  
Increases martial arts damage by 30%.**

 **Feathers of the Vermillion Bird (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
The user's chakra wreaths them in a thin shroud of dense chakra, much like the feathers of a bird, to protect them from harm.  
Armor's strength and density increase with level.  
Armor's strength and density increase with INT.**

Wow. I'd already gotten what I wanted when I came here, passives to stack on myself, and I'd gotten them. The speed increase from Vermillion Bird's Wings was already significant, but then the DEX increases from Vermillion Bird's Grace… And Feathers increased my defence, not to mention Talons increasing my physical damage, which was my main source of attack, at least for now. It was amazing. And Vermillion Bird's Beak was definitely stronger than Power Strike, but unlike it, it was a specific attack, so it would definitely see less use. However, I think I can Power Strike when using it, so when I could use it, I definitely would. And Suzaku made everything stronger, too.

…Hmm. On a whim, I activated Grace, and Chakra Enhancement. I didn't have the MP to constantly use them, but… it would level them up faster. And if I happened to fight someone, then I'd already be ready. And with both activated, my DEX was actually now my best stat. By a lot. It was now effectively… um… 55.77, unless my powers truncated decimals. Then it would be 55, unless decimals were ignored in the equation entirely, in which case it would be 53… Regardless. It was a lot. Speaking of…

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 3** **  
** **HP: 180/180** **  
** **MP: 60/60** **  
** **STR: 12** **  
** **VIT: 9** **  
** **DEX: 11** **  
** **INT: 26** **  
** **WIS: 15** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 5**

Now would be a good time to put those five points into a stat. The buffs from Suzaku's style tempted me to put them into DEX. Really, really tempted me. But… My strongest point was still my chakra, specifically my control. So I put the points into WIS again, pumping it up to 20. I felt my body flood with a bit more chakra, and smiled. I glanced at the clock. Finding the Vermillion Bird style had taken most of the day, so my parents would probably be wondering where I was, so I got up from the table I was at, and took a step.

If it hadn't been for Vermillion Bird's Grace, I would have fallen. Although, of course, it was because of it I would have fell in the first place. As it was, I merely stumbled. I was… unused to my body moving as it did. It was a tad more practiced, a bit more refined than I had been. I could tell about the effect my skills were having on me.

Which was great. Because if I could tell my skills were effecting me now, when my stats were tiny… As both their levels and my stats grew, they'd only become greater. And that, inexplicably, really made me smile.

* * *

I walked a bit faster than I was used to, so the next morning, a walk to the training ground that had been fifteen minutes two days ago became seven. Chakra Enhancement and Vermillion Bird's Grace were active, of course.

I stretched, bouncing on the balls of my feet as I waited for everyone to show up, my scarf still practically surgically attached to my neck. I was really fixing for a fight again. My blood was boiling.

Sasuke-kun showed up within five minutes of my arrival, and Naruto-chan within five minutes of that. Wait, Naruto-chan? …Yeah, sure. The idiot probably wouldn't even realise that it was an insult. Although, I guess it was a sign of affection, too. I briefly glanced him up and down. Nope. Nothing like what I felt for Sasuke-kun. I'm safe. I went to go talk to him, when a poof of smoke appeared in front of us, revealing Kakashi-sensei, who was reading _his fucking porn_ again. He really shouldn't do that in public, but no one told him off, what with him being an A-rank elite jonin and all.

"Hello, kiddies." He said, his visible eye doing that upside-down U thing. What was under that damn mask, anyways? I bet it'd be an anticlimactic reveal. "We're doing a mission today. Follow me. Try not to get lost down the road of life."

I rolled my eyes, shoving my hands in my pockets. Sasuke-kun reacted similarly, and Naruto-chan just yelled something at him. We all filed in, and went with him to the mission office, me focusing on controlling my speed to remain behind him.

* * *

As we were about to get doled another one of those shitty D-ranks, Naruto-chan yelled out. "I'm tired of doing these stupid D-ranks! Why can't we get a real mission instead?"

Sasuke-kun grunted in approval, and I spoke up as well. "Yeah, I agree with Naruto-chan. These D-ranks are pretty pointless."

Hokage-sama stopped, seeming to think about it. "Genin of Team 7." He spoke authoritatively. I straightened unconsciously, Sasuke-kun doing the same, although Naruto-chan remained unfazed by his tone. I looked straight at the man, he doing the same to us.

 **?  
LV ?  
Sarutobi Hiruzen**

"You believe you're ready for a C-rank?"

"Hell yeah we are!"

"I agree."

"Hn."

"Kakashi?"

"In all honesty? They're probably overqualified for a beginner mission."

"I see." Hokage-sama sat back, taking a puff of his pipe. "Well then. If you believe you are ready, I won't stop you. I expect great things from you. The mission is to escort a bridge builder to his home in Nami no Kuni, and protect him and his family until the bridge is finished. The only resistance likely to happen is attacks from wild animals, and perhaps bandits." Looking to the chunin beside him, he nodded to them. "Bring in Tazuna-san."

A few moments after, a man walked in. I took a moment to look at him, as he took a swig from the bottle he held.

 **Master Bridge Builder  
LV 1  
Tazuna**

He looked at us, and growled. "I pay so much money, and this is the team I get? Broody, Midget, and Tacky?"

The boys bristled at that, and inside, I got angry at the insult to my dress sense. However, for the sake of the mission, I remained calm, and spoke. I love Gamer's Mind. "We're sorry for not meeting your expectations, Tazuna-dono. In truth, we're a team still in training, but there is more to us than you might think from our appearances. And if any threats crop up that we are unable to handle, our sensei, Hatake Kakashi, is an elite jonin, the best of the best. You will be completely safe while under our protection, I can assure you that." I felt everyone in the room's eyes on me as I finished, apart from Tazuna himself, who seemed slightly embarrassed.

"Yes, well… I'm sure you will do a fine job. Come get me when it's time to go." He left quickly, and as everyone's subtle glances became more overt, I smirked.

"What? Butter up the client and they're more likely to come back. And I did my best in making our team sound as good as possible without leaking any info on our actual skills. Business as usual, no?"

Naruto-chan seemed confused, and Sasuke-kun silently approving. Hokage-sama spoke again. "I would work on that silver tongue, Kakashi. Diplomats are always appreciated."

I bowed, smiling. "Oh, please, Hokage-sama. You flatter me."

* * *

 **And here's the beginning of the Wave Arc. I know this chapter is incredibly late, and I'm sorry for that. School's started back up for me, so I have much less time to write than I did a few weeks ago. I will update when I can, but don't expect any at regular intervals, unless I somehow manage to make the time.**


	7. Travel

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Travel**

I walked home, to go quickly pack for the mission. I thought about what had just happened. Was I interested in becoming a diplomat? …As long as it didn't interfere too much with my other missions, I suppose it wouldn't be too bad. And it'd be an excuse to go to countries that I'd never go to for missions otherwise, like Tsuchi no Kuni, and places like that. I guess if the opportunity arose, well. I wouldn't say no.

* * *

"Mom! I'm leaving for a mission!" I shouted, as I neared the door on my way out. "I don't know how long it'll be. I'll see you when I get back."

"Wait, what? Sakura!" My mother said, quickly leaving the kitchen, coming over to me. "You're leaving the village?"

"Yup. My first C-Rank."

"Oh…" She said. She quickly engulfed me in a hug, which I returned. "Be safe, okay? And tell the same to Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun. Okay?"

"I will, mom. I've gotta go." I broke from the hug, waving at her, and ran out the door.

* * *

I ran full tilt. I was curious how fast I was with all these new buffs. I got to the gate in two minutes as a result, slowing as I approached it. Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei, and Tazuna-san were all already there, so we only had Naruto-chan to wait for. I waited quietly, standing next to Sasuke-kun, who gave me a nod. I smiled at him in response, and he… I don't know. It looked like he tried to smile and scowl at the same time, or something. Whatever it was, he turned quickly.

* * *

Naruto-chan arrived not ten minutes later, and after asking if we were all ready, Kakashi-sensei turned and started walking. That's when I knew it would be a longer trip. I had prepared for that, but I didn't see why we couldn't just pick up Tazuna-san and take to the trees. It'd be so much faster. We formed a loose diamond formation around Tazuna-san, and he and sensei idly chatted.

* * *

We walked for hours, eventually passing a puddle. I paid it no mind, although I had a little niggling feeling that I should have Observed it. That feeling was right. Two people appeared from the puddle, and instantly, Kakashi-sensei was wrapped in a chain, and torn to shreds.

"One down," One of the enemy ninja – because what else could they have been – said.

I looked up just as Sasuke-kun did, seeing Naruto-chan freeze up in the corner of my eye.

 **Demon Brother  
LV 13  
Gozu**

 **Demon Brother  
LV 14  
Meizu**

I didn't even think about it. In an instant, a Magic Bullet formed in my left hand, that I unconsciously fed more and more chakra into. I Lunged at the one on the left – Gozu – as Sasuke-kun rushed the other. I slammed him with an uppercut before he could react, hitting with a Power Strike. It lifted him off the ground, and that's when I smashed my left hand into his abdomen, releasing the Magic Bullet. The Bullet exploded point-blank, and sent him flying… or would've, if Sasuke-kun hadn't just locked their chain in place. As it was, the momentum of the one I hit dislocated the other's arm with a pop, as he screamed, and probably did the same to mine, but my attack had already knocked him out.

Sasuke-kun knocked out his guy, as pop-ups appeared for me.

 **Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one!**

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through manipulation of volatile mana, the skill 'Magic Blast' has been created!**

I skimmed over them quickly. Four levels and a new skill. Dismissing them quickly, I then refocused on the world around me. Kakashi-sensei appeared again. "Well. That was fast. Sakura."

"Yes, sensei?"

"The technique you used. What was it?"

"Oh, it was something I've been working on for a while. It's basically coalescing chakra over your hand into a ball." I demonstrated, forming another Magic Bullet. "It's meant to be fired, like this." I demonstrated, firing it into a tree. "I just… didn't think about it. I just slammed it into him instead of firing. I knew I'd be able to move faster than the attack, so…"

"I see. Create another one for me, please?"

"Sure." I created another one, the Bullet floating over my hand, and Kakashi-sensei approached me, studying it.

He looked at it for a solid minute, before I heard, "It's similar… but not the same." He stepped back, returning to his normal self. "Well! Well done on creating a new technique! That's incredibly difficult even at the best of change, so to do it now, even one as simple as that, is remarkable!" He did the eye thing at me, before looking at the ninja. "Unfortunately, you kids are too good. I wanted to see if they were after us, or after Tazuna. But you took them out immediately. Good work, by the way. So, as we don't know yet, you guys are going to get your first primer on interrogation!"

* * *

Kakashi-sensei removed all of the ninja's gear, before tying them both to a tree, leaving their dislocated arms free. He made a single handseal, seeming to hock something up in his mouth, cheeks swelling, before spitting a mouthful of water into Meizu's face. The ninja woke with a shock, before scowling. His mask had been removed, so it was clear for us to see.

"So! You know me, I don't know you, and I don't care to know you, so let's skip the introductions, shall we? Why did you attack us?" Meizu didn't say a word. "Was it simply for my bounty? Because you should've realised that it would be a bit harder to collect than that." Again, he didn't talk. Sensei shrugged. He grabbed Meizu's arm, and simply started pulling. Meizu grit his teeth, fighting the urge to scream from the pain.

"I'll just keep pulling until I get my answer, you know." Kakashi-sensei calmly stated. Naruto-chan looked away. He definitely wasn't the type to like torture. From the stuff I'd heard and read about, this was relatively tame, even. Tazuna-san wasn't even looking to begin with. Kakashi-sensei just kept pulling, and pulling. Meizu eventually started to scream, but still refused to talk. Eventually, Kakashi-sensei dropped his arm, the enemy ninja panting and sweating. "Maybe your partner will be more cooperative." He made the handseal for that water jutsu, when-

"Wait. Don't… I'll tell you. Our target… it was the bridge builder."

"Well, that's all I needed to know." Suddenly, Meizu was out like a light again. I saw Kakashi-sensei's hand for a literal instant, against Meizu's head, and then he was unconscious. Sensei turned, eyes hard, and focused on Tazuna-san. "Tazuna. We need to talk."

* * *

The fucker had known. He had _known_ he'd be targeted by ninja. His excuse was bullshit, too. I'm sure Hokage-sama would've made an exception in Nami's case, if he had just told the damn truth! …Still, It wouldn't sit right with me to leave Nami up a creek. I wanted to continue the mission, not for that drunk fuck's sake, but for the people of Nami that we'd be helping so much by completing the mission. And the boys agreed with me, although not necessarily for the same reasons. Regardless of that fact, though, that was enough to convince Kakashi-sensei to continue the mission.

* * *

While we rode on the boat that would take us to Nami no Kuni proper, I looked at that Magic Blast skill that I had gotten.

 **Magic Blast (Active) LV1 EXP: 11.43%  
The user charges up a mass of energy in their hands, and releases it in a massively strong close-ranged burst of power.  
Damage increases with INT.**

So it was specifically close range, but I assumed that was the trade-off. It was much more powerful than just a Magic Bullet, so I think that was fair. I dismissed the window, and returned to looking at the sea and landscapes we passed by. The scent of sea salt filled my nostrils, and I inhaled it, smiling and resting on the side of the boat, momentarily relaxed.

* * *

We were back to walking, but at least now it wasn't a dirt path with nothing but trees on either side. No, now it was a dirt path with trees on one side and the sea on the other. Not much different, but any change was appreciated. Naruto-chan started at something, suddenly throwing a kunai into the bushes. A white rabbit ran out of the bushes, and I chuckled. "Getting jumpy, Naruto-chan?"

"Hey, I-"

"Get down!" Kakashi-sensei yelled. I immediately reacted, pulling Tazuna down with me as I basically slammed myself down into the dirt. A huge – and I mean huge – sword whistled through the air over our heads, and slammed into a tree behind us. We got up and turned, looking at the sword, as a man appeared, standing on it. I looked at him, seeing what we were up against.

 **?  
LV ?  
Momochi Zabuza**

Oh. Oh, shit.

* * *

 **Okay, it seems I have more time than I thought, even with school. I know this is rather short, but I wanted to get something out if I could, so here it is. Besides, this seems a better stopping point than somewhere in the middle of the Zabuza fight, or rushing it and squeezing all of it in here.**


	8. Fear

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Fear**

Okay, Sakura. It's okay. You can't see Kakashi-sensei's level either, he could be just as strong as this guy. Stay calm. Don't let the boys panic. I looked at them, and they seemed fine. No recollection of this… Zabuza. Alright, then. I refocused on the enemy in front of us, ready to fight, while Kakashi-sensei and he seemed to finish with their pre-battle banter. He leapt off his sword, pulling it onto his back, as he flew through handseals. "Hiding in the Mist Jutsu!" He cried, as fog rolled in, obscuring everything around us. Kakashi-sensei lifted up his forehead protector to his actual forehead for once, as an oppressive aura rolled over all of us.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through continuous exposure to danger, the skill 'Sense Danger' has been created!**

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through continuous exposure to killing intent, the skill 'Sense KI' has been created!**

 **Sense Danger has increased in level by one! Sense Danger has increased in level by one! Sense Danger has increased in level by one! Sense Danger has increased in level by one! Sense Danger has increased in level by one!**

 **Sense Ki has increased in level by one! Sense Ki has increased in level by one! Sense Ki has increased in level by one! Sense Ki has increased in level by one! Sense Ki has increased in level by one! Sense Ki has increased in level by one! Sense Ki has increased in level by one!**

 _Damn_. That aura… I shivered. If it weren't for Gamer's Mind, keeping me calm… In the corner of my eye, I- I swatted that kunai right out of Sasuke-kun's hands. "What are you doing, you idiot!?" He looked at me, surprise clear on his face, while Zabuza's voice seemed to emanate from every direction as he chuckled and spoke.

"You've got a fiery one there, Kakashi. Relatively unaffected by my intent, too… It's too bad you met me. Your life probably would've been legendary otherwise. Oh well. Now then… Which of the eight points of death shall I hit?"

In a whirl of motion, Zabuza cut Kakashi-sensei in half with that super-impractical weapon of his. Really, it was ridiculous, and everyone knows that speed is favoured in the kinetic energy equation more than mass. If he had something with half the weight, every swing would be even faster, and have four times the same amount of energy if he used the same amount of force… Ugh, whatever! The Kakashi-sensei he cut turned into water, and another Kakashi-sensei held a kunai to his neck, just for _Zabuza_ to turn into water.

…Man, I need to get an actual clone technique at some point. Those things were damned useful.

* * *

It went on and on like that for a while, neither of them gaining the upper hand, while the boys and I tightened our formation around Tazuna, ready for when – because at this rate, it probably would happen – Zabuza happened to switch targets. The battle between the two elite ninja moved to the water, and while the boys focused on each move of the fight, I focused more on how they were freaking _standing on water_. They weren't moving, so it wasn't because of their speed or anything… It must be some form of chakra control, or a supplementary jutsu, or something. Did it require a water affinity or something? Zabuza was a Mist nin, so it wouldn't be too farfetched… although that meant we had a pretty rare teacher, what with him having a water affinity in the Land of Fire. Maybe it didn't require the affinity. I've gotta ask Kakashi-sensei after. …Well, if we survive this. That would probably not be a cakewalk. The boys gasped, and I looked up, and my eyes widened.

Kakashi-sensei was held in some kind of water bubble, that Zabuza held a hand into. It was obviously some form of jutsu, and I don't think Kakashi-sensei could move. "Run!" Sensei shouted, as Zabuza made another one of those clones made of water.

"Too late for that." The impractical swordsman grinned, as his clone started to approach us.

I swivelled around. "Sasuke-kun!" I barked, and he stared at me, an incredulous look on his face. "Don't give me dumb looks like that! You know fire jutsu, right? Use them! We have to get Kakashi-sensei free! Now!" His face morphed into his usual calm, collected, and cute, and he nodded, already going through handseals. "Naruto-chan! Make loads of clones and have them throw all the kunai and shuriken you have!"

"Got it, Sakura-chan!"

I turned back towards Zabuza, his clone dangerously close. I held out my hand, preparing a Bullet. "No, this isn't strong enough…" I said, gritting my teeth. I poured more power into it, pushing it almost to the point of instability, forcing myself to solely focus on making sure it didn't prematurely explode. I barely registered the hail of weapons that flew at Zabuza, or the searing fireball that vaporised his clone. After about five seconds, it was done. The Bullet, which had once been about the size of my fist, was now the size of Choji-san's torso. And in case you didn't know, Akimichi Choji's _fucking fat._

I fired the huge Bullet, unprepared for the massive recoil that knocked me off my feet, ruining my aim, but it didn't matter. Sasuke-kun and Naruto-chan's contributions were already enough to force Zabuza to move, and my huge Bullet just made him retreat farther.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through manipulation of a huge amount of mana, the skill 'Magic Cannon' has been created!**

I waved away the window, now wasn't the time. I took note of the name, though. Magic Cannon definitely fit.

Kakashi-sensei was freed from that prison Zabuza was caught in, and wasted no time in re-engaging. But, having reminded them that they could actually help without being hindrances, Naruto-chan and Sasuke-kun assisted where possible with kunai and fire techniques. I was exhausted from the cannon, so I simply remained by Tazuna, panting and trying to catch my breath. The Cannon shot had taken a lot out of me. I was still no chakra monster, and something like that was incredibly taxing for me. Although, I was sure actually getting a hit with it on someone of my level? That would be my win, instantly. In that sense, I suppose, it was an all-or-nothing trump card. Which I could live with.

* * *

Kakashi-sensei easily had the upper hand, especially with Naruto-chan and Sasuke-kun's help. He had Zabuza pinned, when suddenly, two needles appeared in his neck, and the man with the slab of sharpened metal that's supposedly a sword – have you realised how _stupid_ that weapon is, yet? – dropped like a sack of potatoes. Another ninja, this one masked, dropped to Zabuza's side, checking for a pulse and finding none. "Thank you," the… male, I suppose, spoke out in a melodious voice. "I have been tracking him for a while. Your battle gave me the opening I needed to take him out." I looked closer at the guy.

 **The Demon's Tool  
LV 22  
Haku Yuki**

That's… weirdly weak, for someone supposedly tracking Zabuza. That's weird. Kakashi-sensei spoke then. "Oh, well thank you for your help, Hunter-san. I don't suppose you would need any help disposing of the body?"

"Oh, no." The hunter-nin soothed, picking up Zabuza's body. "I can do that when I have returned-"

In a flash, the ninja was in the position Zabuza had been not moments ago. "Wrong answer. You should know that hunter-nin dispose of the body where the target was killed, to avoid anyone picking up a trail, or gaining secrets of your village. But of course, you're no hunter-nin, are you?" The masked ninja struggled against Kakashi-sensei's hold, not answering. Kakashi-sensei's eyes flicked to Sasuke-kun. "Sasuke. Stab Zabuza in the heart."

Sasuke-kun slowly nodded, pulling out a kunai from his pouch. His hand hovered over the body, before in a single smooth motion, his hand plunged into Zabuza's heart, and blood spurted from it, staining his face and clothes, to which he grimaced.

"Nooooo!" screamed Haku, escaping Sensei's hold, and heading straight for Sasuke-kun. I Lunged at them, just as Naruto-chan began to move, and the both of us managed to tackle them onto the ground. Kakashi-sensei pulled them up, holding them by the front of their kimono, their mask having fallen off in the commotion. Kakashi-sensei pulled down his forehead protector again, pulling out a kunai.

"Any last words?"

At Haku's silence, Kakashi-sensei shrugged, and finished the job.

* * *

After the fight, we made good time to Tazuna's house. Kakashi-sensei was tired, stumbling a few times. The fight must've taken a lot out of him. As soon as he found somewhere to rest, he was out like a light, dropping Zabuza's fucking metal sheet on the ground next to him, and the boys and I looked at each other.

"So… what do we do?"

"We could make a perimeter around the house, I guess. Your clones would be good for that, Naruto-chan."

"We shouldn't." I looked at Sasuke-kun questioningly. "This Gato probably hired Zabuza thinking he could handle anyone that Tazuna brought with him. Making a perimeter will just alert him that Zabuza failed, and when he doesn't come back, he'll realise he's dead, and will just hire someone else, maybe someone stronger. If we don't make the perimeter, it'll take him longer to realise he's dealing with someone that isn't easy to take down. And he's a civilian, even if a corrupt one. He might underestimate us anyway."

I nodded. "That's pretty smart, Sasuke-kun. Okay, so no perimeter, and we ask Kakashi-sensei about stuff when he wakes up. Okay?"

"I have a lot to ask him regardless… about that Sharingan of his, for one."

"That was a Sharingan? It looked pretty cool!"

I chuckled, moving over to the corner of the room.

* * *

 **Magic Cannon (Active) LV1 EXP: 21.67%  
A skill requiring the user to manipulate a huge amount of energy and control into a cannonball-like sphere of power.  
Requires 5 seconds of charge time.  
500% damage increase.**

Yep, Magic Cannon was as devastating as I had thought it would be. And Sense Danger was level 6, and Sense Killing Intent level 8, just from that one burst from Zabuza… wow.

Yeah, I still have a ways to go, huh?

* * *

 **Again, sorry for the short chapter, but this is as much as I could manage in the what, week since the last chapter? Yeah, school's amped up.**

 **Also, no one picked up on the hint to a later plot point, and it's a pretty massive plot point, too. Well, the hint is in this chapter too, so if you think you saw it, just say so in a review or a PM and I'll tell you. Finding it is entirely up to you lot, though! Anyways, thanks for reading, and I will see you all in the next chapter.**


	9. Readiness

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Readiness**

My fist collided with Naruto-chan's, both of us fighting for dominance in our struggle. He won out, being the physically strongest of the three of us. I went for a roundhouse kick, but he managed to dodge, and with a wild swing of his fist, he got me good in the face, and I went down. I swept my leg at his, tripping him up, and punched him in the face as he fell. He fought through the pain, though, and grabbed my arm before I could retract from the punch, and he lifted me up, and slammed me back down on my back on his other side.

"I give." I exhaled from the ground, the pain from the slam having already faded due to my ability. "Although I hope you know the only reason you won is because you're a lot stronger than I am. Your taijutsu is really sloppy for someone who uses so much of it."

"Huh? But I fight exactly how Mizuki taught me-"

"Well, Mizuki's a shit teacher then. Your taijutsu is pretty damn awful."

I had asked Naruto-chan for a taijutsu-only spar, because I knew that'd be one of the best ways to start levelling up Suzaku's style. But that meant no skills for me, not even buffs, or Power Strike. I considered using Vermillion Bird's Beak, since it was a part of the style, but that would be the only active skill I'd allow myself to use.

It showed me how much I relied on my skills, already, even my buffs. I was faster than Naruto, but he was stronger, and a hell of a lot more durable than I was. And even with the frankly minimal number of jutsu and skills I had, I used them heavily to disorient and confuse opponents so I could chip away at them, one bit at a time. When that was removed, then it showed how much I was lacking. With my buffs, it would've been a fairer contest, but… I sighed.

"So much for being the top kunoichi. Beaten by the so-called dead last."

"No, Sakura-chan! You're great! You know all those cool jutsu, and those illusion things! When you use those, you're a lot better than me!"

"Points for trying to cheer me up, but that's not the point. I'm incredibly lacking physically, even still. I need to fix that."

I sat up from where I was laying on the ground. "I'm gonna go check on sensei. If he's not awake, I'll go guard Tazuna when he goes to work later." I said, seeing the red ball of fire that granted our world light start to peak over the horizon.

"Whoa, it's sunrise."

"Well, yeah. We should get up before first light. We need to constantly ensure the safety of our client, don't we? We have to be there ate every waking moment."

"I was wondering why you made us go to sleep as soon as they did. And why you wanted to spar in the middle of the night."

"Nothing like a fight to get the blood pumping." Or a unique ability that didn't require you to sleep in the first place.

* * *

Sensei was still out like a light, but from using Diagnosis on him, he was only suffering from minor chakra exhaustion. He should be awake later today, and back at one hundred percent in two to three days. Good. If Gato does end up hiring someone else, we'll be fully ready before they can even get here.

* * *

I greeted Sasuke-kun in Tazuna's living room, where he had been since I woke him and Naruto up. He had been watching Tsunami-san quietly and subtly when she had woken up, he told me. However, there wasn't really much to guard them from inside the house, which I agreed with. "You could come with me to guard Tazuna on the bridge, if you'd like."

"I'd prefer to train."

"That's fine too. Swap with Naruto-chan out back then."

"...Hn."

"What?"

"I would have thought you'd insist on me coming. Or join me in whatever I decided to do."

I chuckled. "I grew up a bit, Sasuke-kun. I'm not gonna blindly follow you on everything anymore. I'm no child."

He paused. "On second thought, one person can't guard every avenue of attack. I suppose it would make sense for me to come with you."

* * *

Sasuke-kun stayed with Tazuna, while I moved onto the bridge proper, watching the workers. The client was Tazuna, but the bridge wouldn't be able to be built without workers. While I watched, I played with my chakra. Nothing external, it was purely internal movement. Essentially, I was using Chakra Enhancement, and isolating it to singular parts of my body, to see if it could be used in different ways. I was wary of moving it to my eyes, ears, and nose, though. Seeing like a Hyuuga, hearing like a Namiki, smelling like an Inuzuka, it seemed really cool.

Except I knew with the limited medical knowledge I had that they were some of the most delicate parts of the body, the eyes and ears especially. It was the same reason no one tried to localise chakra flow to their brain to increase processing speed, or something like that. If they messed up, it wouldn't be good, and in the case of the brain, they wouldn't even be able to pass on what they did wrong and right, since they'd be, y'know. Dead. Or a vegetable. Maybe a paraplegic if they were lucky.

In the end, I localised it to my head in general. It did help my senses, but not nearly to the extent that those clan's senses had been honed to. But it was enough for me to pick up on the chatter of the builders, who thought I couldn't hear them.

"That's one of those magicians? She's just a girl. What was Tazuna thinking?"

"She's so scrawny… what is she, twelve? Thirteen?"

"Hey… I heard that all of those ninja types have some wicked magic and stuff. She might be, like, a demon in disguise or something."

"Really? Scary…"

"You two are cowards. She's a little girl, younger than your own kids. Tazuna must've made a mistake."

"I can hear you, you know." The three builders froze. It'd been simple to weave two skills together, leaving a Clone in my place, and using False Surroundings to cloak myself as I leisurely approached them. I played with the illusion some more, making it seem like I rose up from their shadows before breaking it, and dispelling my Clone. "You should be more discrete when dealing with a kunoichi."

The two that had been wary both backed away, and the one who had seemed so brave before stood as still as a statue, fear clear on his face. I scoffed.

"I knew it be a waste of my time to bother trying to educate hicks like you." I spat on the ground, looking at the three that still hadn't returned to their work. Shrugging, I grabbed the loads they had been carrying, activating Chakra Enhancement to make sure I could handle it, and started transporting in their stead. In the corner of my eye, I saw them all fall on their asses, all of them scared.

I smiled. I should do that more often. It was… kinda fun.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through fearmongering, the skill 'Evoke Fear' has been created!**

I brought my scarf up over my mouth as I started to giggle. This power had skills for everything, didn't it?

* * *

I helped with the building of the bridge after that. Unfortunately, I wasn't that much of a help. I was only one girl, and an untrained one for this sort of thing at that. I could only move material, and even then, they had machines that could move even more than I could, albeit more slowly. But it felt like I was helping, so I continued. But it was… really, _really_ boring work. I don't understand how they could live with doing this every day of their lives, it was… mind-numbing! I hated it, and didn't intend on helping again.

* * *

After the day's work, Sasuke-kun and I walked Tazuna back to his home. Tsunami-san was already finishing cooking dinner. She knew we'd be back around now. Naruto-chan, Kakashi-sensei, and Inari-chan, Tazuna's grandson, were already sat at the table. Naruto-chan seemed angry about something, but I didn't intend to pry. I just smiled at him instead, sitting next to him, which seemed to cheer him up. Sasuke-kun sat next to me, while Tazuna went to go and say hello to his daughter.

"Good initiative, you three. I'm glad you knew to protect Tazuna without me having to tell you, and you left someone here to protect Tsunami-san and Inari-kun. Sakura, I'm also impressed with your decision not to have a perimeter-"

"Actually, sensei, that was Sasuke-kun's idea."

"I'd guessed. But you made the final decision, no?"

"Oh, uh… yeah. I guess so."

"And that's why I'm impressed. Not necessarily for what you decided, but because you took charge, not bothering to bicker between yourselves, just doing what had to be done. That's very different to what you would have done months ago, when you were teamed up. I'm proud. You've come far."

I smiled, while Sasuke-kun grunted. Naruto-chan shouted, "Well, yeah! We're Team 7, the best genin team in Konoha!"

"You aren't good enough."

Naruto-chan and I looked at Inari-chan. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Gato's too strong. He's just gonna kill you all. Don't you see that?"

"Gato's a corrupt pig. He's just a civilian. We have nothing to worry about from him."

"Yes you do!" He shouted, standing up. "There's no such thing as heroes! You can't save us! Gato'll just kill you all, and make things worse for us! So just go back home!"

I snorted. "Hey, kid. Lemme tell you something." I stated, fire in my tone. "Gato's a scumbag. I have no doubt he would try and kill us, if he could. But he can't. The ninja he hired, the ones he thought could take on anyone? We beat them already, on the way here. No one he hires can stand up to us, you hear me?"

"He'll just hire someone else!"

"And we'll just beat them too!" Naruto-chan yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

"You don't understand. No one does!" The annoyance cried, running upstairs to his room.

"Little shit," I mumbled under my breath. I sighed. "So! What's for dinner?"

* * *

 **And here's the continuation! Nothing really to say. I think a chapter a week is decent enough for now, right? When things let up, we'll be back to our three day cycle. Also, to the guest who thought that the hint I was dropping was that Naruto was a girl – nice try, but no. It's not that. The –chan suffix is just a term of affection, but she's not calling him –kun because that's reserved for Sasuke. The hint's still there to find, but it's only in the last two chapters. Don't worry if you can't find it. You'll find out, eventually. But anyway guys, that's it for now. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!**


	10. Technique

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Technique**

"Climbing trees?" Naruto-chan asked, utterly confused. To be fair, I was too, and I bet Sasuke-kun was as well. But… he was our sensei for a reason. Shrugging, I channelled chakra into my legs, Lunging at the lowest branch, quickly turning and Lunging to the next, and continued until I reached the top, which took me about three seconds. Had we been back home, then things would've been different. A place called the Village Hidden in the Leaves had some massive trees, of course.

I peered down at my teammates. Even if it was less than half the size of an average Leaf oak, to say nothing of the ancient, incredible trees that had been in the village since its founding, it was still quite a height. "How'd I do?"

"That was impressively quick, Sakura, and you acted on what I said almost immediately, which is also good. However, that's not what I meant for you to do. Had you waited, I would've clarified." Sensei chastised me, although he didn't seem mad, more pleased than anything. He walked up to the tree, and waited a moment, before placing a foot on it, and then slowly walking up the tree.

"Whoa." I stated. Oh, yeah! I jumped down from the tree, as Kakashi-sensei walked back down from the trunk. "Hey, sensei, that reminds me. What was the technique that you and Zabuza used to walk on water? Does it require a water affinity, or something like that?"

"No, it's an advanced form of the technique I just used to walk up the tree. Anyone with good enough chakra control should be able to do it. Though, now that I think about it… I suppose those with a water affinity may very well find it easier to use than others. Regardless, though," He said, moving back over to the tree. "To walk up the tree, you need to channel chakra to your feet. If you channel too little, nothing will change. Too much, and your chakra becomes concentrated, and therefore volatile, forcing you off the tree. And with just the right amount, your chakra takes on adhesive properties, allowing you to walk up the tree. Hop to." And with that, he vanished, leaving the clearing.

"Heh, this'll be easy!" Naruto-chan shouted, running at the tree and taking a step on it… and immediately falling off. To my right, Sasuke-kun managed to make it a few steps up the tree, before being blown off.

I cracked my knuckles. "Alright, let's go." I rushed at the tree, channelling chakra to my feet. I ran up the tree with ease, retaking my spot at the top. "That… was easier than expected."

I looked for the expected notification, but there was nothing. "Does that not qualify as a skill, then? Weird. Totally would've expected it to be." I slid down the tree trunk, flipping off it and making a stylish landing. Naruto-chan clapped.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to it. I'm gonna go find sensei, see if he has anything else for me. In a bit, boys," I waved, as I left to go back to the house, both of them attempting to climb the tree again.

* * *

Sensei didn't have much for me. He started me on water walking, but I was a natural at that too. He sighed, telling me to wait while he went to get something. I opened up my status, looking at my stats.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 7** **  
** **HP: 180/180** **  
** **MP: 70/70** **  
** **STR: 12** **  
** **VIT: 9** **  
** **DEX: 11** **  
** **INT: 26** **  
** **WIS: 20** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 20**

"Now's as good a time as any, I suppose." I said, looking at my points. Deciding to keep upping my chakra related stats, since my physical ones got buffed the most, anyway, I dumped 7 into INT and 13 into WIS, equalising them at 33. I felt a slight pain in my head as I did, and a more significant one at my core. However, they faded quickly, and I dismissed the window. I stretched a bit, and formed a small Magic Bullet in my palm, playing around with it, messing with its shape. I quite like the look of it as a cube. Looks cleaner, in my opinion. I let the cube of force dissipate, as I heard Kakashi-sensei begin to make his way back downstairs. He had a piece of paper in his hand.

"Channel chakra into this." He stated, handing me the paper. I complied, and watched in fascination as the paper burst into flame, but instead of leaving ash behind, it was instead dirt and dust. "Fire with a secondary of earth… Not surprising, considering where we live, but I was expecting you to be earth and water. It doesn't matter, though."

"Was that to test my chakra affinity?"

"It was. You have a fire affinity with earth as a secondary. A strong offence, and a strong defence."

"Oh, okay. Are you going to teach me techniques, then?"

"Not yet. You need to train your affinity first. Which one would you like to train first?"

"Fire."

"Oh? And why?"

"I'd like to train my offence first. My dad is already teaching me medical jutsu and other support skills later, I'm sure, so I'd like to spend my time with you strengthening my offence and my body physically."

Sensei looked at me approvingly. "That's fine, then. Make sure you tell me what you learn on your own time as soon as you learn it, though. I would like to know how strong you are."

"Oh, well… I also kinda started learning a taijutsu style too. The Vermillion Bird of the South."

"Oh? I've not heard of that style. I'll look it up when we're back in the village, and I'll see if I can help you."

"Thanks, sensei. So, what's the affinity training?"

* * *

I sat, staring at the leaf in my hands, Kakashi-sensei looking on lazily. I took in a deep breath, accessing my chakra, moulding it, trying to make it hotter, or something. Wilder, trying to make it rise. I breathed out, and let the chakra out, thrusting it into the leaf, and I watched as it burst into flames in my hands. The small flame floated slightly over my hands, and as I kept feeding the small flame chakra, I just heard Kakashi-sensei sigh.

"I don't know how anyone didn't realise this. They said your chakra control was excellent, but this is at a prodigious level."

I barely heard him.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through the manipulation of flame, the skill 'Fire Affinity' has been created!**

 **Fire Affinity (Passive) LV1 EXP: 1.54%  
The ability to manipulate fire and flame-based techniques. To some, this comes as natural as breathing, while for others, it takes years of training to accomplish this feat.  
Reduces MP cost of all fire-based skills by 5%.  
Increases damage dealt by fire-based skills by 5%.  
Allows fire-based skills to be created.**

* * *

Unfortunately, Kakashi-sensei didn't have any scrolls of fire techniques on him. However, that wasn't so much of a problem. I created a Magic Bullet, remembering how I had played with it earlier. The Bullet came out as a cube, as I had made it earlier, and then I remembered how my chakra had felt when I gained the Fire Affinity skill. The Bullet erupted into flame, as I thought it would.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through manipulation of flame-based mana, the skill 'Fireball' has been created!**

That confirmed my suspicions. I dismissed the Fireball, not bothering to unlock the Magic Blast and Magic Cannon fire variants. They'd come when I needed them.

* * *

Things continued like this for a while. The boys would train their tree climbing, while I made and maintained small fires to train my Fire Affinity, with all my buffs active, of course. Then, after dinner, I'd spar with one or both of them to up my physicals and to train Suzaku's skills.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 7** **  
** **HP: 180/180** **  
** **MP: 96/96** **  
** **STR: 13** **  
** **VIT: 11** **  
** **DEX: 14** **  
** **INT: 33** **  
** **WIS: 33** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 0**

Every other day, I'd go and protect Tazuna while he worked. I just maintained a flame in my hands, while I walked around, surveying the area. I levelled up my Evoke Fear skill a few times doing that. These guys must really be freaked out by shinobi. Freaking hicks. Although, of course, Gato would definitely know we were here now. Not like he wouldn't have known beforehand, though, we stuck out like sore thumbs, and with Zabuza never turning up, he must've assumed. Kakashi-sensei said we should watch out for any ninja that Gato may hire as a result of us taking out Zabuza and his goons.

But I wasn't worried. Zabuza wasn't that much trouble to deal with, even if Kakashi-sensei did almost everything, and we were stronger now than we were before. We could deal with whatever came our way.

* * *

The bridge would be finished in a few days, so Kakashi-sensei started bringing all of us out to protect Tazuna. He had Naruto leave a few clones at the house to protect Tsunami-san and her little shit of a son, and we watched as Tazuna started ordering his workers around. I went and sat next to the bridge, cupping my hands and watching the flame spring up. My Fire Affinity had gone up seven levels, but the rate of improvement was slowing fast.

' **Evoke Fear' has increased in level by one!**

I sighed. Every time it levelled, I got better at evoking fear, which just made it level faster… it was an endless cycle.

"Hey, kid." A shadow lumbered over me. I looked up to see the idiot brave enough to bother me today. Oh, it was a girl this time.

 **Rising Star of the Earth  
LV 27  
Kamizuru Kurotsuchi**

"Fuck!" I growled, leaping off the bench I had been sat on, regrouping with my team. "Sensei! There's an enemy ninja!"

He nodded. "I'm aware. You can come out now."

Before my eyes, two men rose out of the ground, and the girl that had approached me, Kurotsuchi, joined them.

 **The Third's Shield  
LV 29  
Kamizuru Akatsuchi**

 **Prideful Son, Calm Father  
LV 51  
Kamizuru Kitsuchi**

"It seems your skills haven't dulled, Hatake."

"Oh no, of course not. You haven't gotten any better though, Kamizuru."

The oldest – Kitsuchi – bristled at that comment. However, he seemed to rein himself in. "Hand over the bridge builder, or we'll kill you all, and then take him."

"Good luck with that." Kakashi-sensei said, pulling out his porn and beginning to read.

Kitsuchi bristled again. "Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi, kill the kids. Hatake's mine." He barked.

"Those kids aren't strong enough to warrant both of us fighting them! Let me help you, Akatsuchi can take care of the little tree-huggers."

"That's an order, Kurotsuchi!" He snapped, staring at Kakashi-sensei. "Now, come on, Hatake Kakashi! Let's see that Sharingan you're so famed for!"

"Oh? Well, I would reveal it, but I don't see anyone around strong enough for me to have to use it to win. Did you bring a fourth member?"

Kitsuchi had had enough, it seemed. He charged sensei, who seemed to focus as soon as the man moved, though he still didn't reveal his Sharingan. "Hold them off until I'm done, then I'll come and assist you!" He said, jumping back to dodge the Rock-nin's attack.

"Tch," I turned, looking at Kurotsuchi. "This'll be a waste of time."

"They are Hatake Kakashi's genin, Kurotsuchi-san. They may be more than they seem."

"They're like, twelve! I won't give up a chance to kill some tree-huggers, but man! This is pathetic." She sighed. "Alright, brats. Time for you to die."

"We'll see about that," said Sasuke-kun, Naruto-chan nodding as he made some clones. Akatsuchi made what seemed like… a rock puppet? Or something similar, while Kurotsuchi simply crossed her arms.

But I knew this wouldn't be easy. Their levels completely outclassed ours. Had it been one, we might've been able to win, but with two… We had to survive, and wait till Kakashi-sensei came through for us. I still couldn't see his level, and I could see Kitsuchi's, meaning he was probably the weaker of the two. So…

"Alright, boys. We've got one goal here. Survive." They both nodded.

"Got it, Sakura-chan!"

"Hn."

"Okay. Let's go!"

* * *

 **And that's it! Sorry I couldn't get out a longer chapter, what with being late as it is, but I really have too much to deal with at the moment. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**


	11. Difference

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Difference**

We moved all at once, the three of us using speed that I'm sure none of us even realised we had. I could see something forming from some rocks over where the larger, higher-levelled one was. Was it a clone of some sort? Whatever it was, it was probably pretty dangerous. He was definitely the one we wanted taken down if we got the chance.

But it had been a second since we moved. Our feet had barely left the ground. So when the girl appeared in front of me, planted a fist into my gut, and then sent me flying into a tree with a roundhouse kick straight into a tree, I was left stunned. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. She was higher level than Dad, so probably a chunin. It's not that much of a stretch for her to be faster than him. I expected for it to be hard to breathe from being hit that hard, and it was, but only for a second. The pain faded almost instantly, and when it did, I stood, shook off the cobwebs, and went rushing back into the fight, Naruto-chan flying past me as I did.

I tried to grab him, but he flew by much too fast for me to. At least he didn't hit the tree, he flew right past it. Gritting my teeth, I Lunged to where we had been before, and frantically rolled out of the way of a jet of water spewing from the girl's mouth. I got on my feet as quick as I could, only to find an earthen fist flying towards me from some sort of giant, hulking rock construct. It must've been what the fat one was doing earlier. I dived out of the way, the fist barely missing. I held out my hand, a cubic Magic Bullet springing to life in it, which I fired at the construct's head area. It barely phased it, though it seemed to stop momentarily. I used that hesitation to scramble away from it, to a clearer area with more space to manoeuvre. There, I saw Sasuke-kun engaging with Kurotsuchi. He was doing well, but… He's only level 15, and he doesn't have the Sharingan, so…

I came in to help him, and as he saw me, he leapt away, to prepare a jutsu or something. I engaged Kurotsuchi physically. I could only keep up with her for a few seconds, judging by how she had decimated me when the fight began, but that would hopefully be enough.

"Heh, fucking tree-hugger kids. You don't know what you're getting into, brat!"

"You're only like, three years older than me! You can't call me a brat, dirt eater!"

"Dirt eater? Seriously? That's the best you could-" I heard the distinctive sound of one of Sasuke-kun's fire jutsu behind me, and I leapt away, calling up two Fireballs, one in each hand. I threw them at Kurotsuchi, and they just got lost in the many fireballs that Sasuke-kun's jutsu had made. But then, the fucking fatass clapped his hands and placed them on the ground, and a wall of stone popped out, blocking the fire.

"You should be more careful, Kurotsuchi. Tsuchikage-sama and your father wouldn't be happy if they found out you were injured by some genin, especially Konoha ones at that."

"Bah, shut it, Akatsuchi. I know, I know. Knowing that old fart, he'd probably demote me if that ever happened. He'd be so pissed off about it. Anyway." She said, turning her attention back to us. "Fire jutsu of that calibre, at your age? You must be an Uchiha, broody. A pretty shit one, too, 'cause you don't have any sharingan that I can see. Did your teacher steal his off you?"

I could see Sasuke-kun literally shaking with rage, and I knew he was about to do something fucking idiotic. "Sasuke, don't! She's trying-"

"Shut the fuck up, Sakura!" He snapped back, launching himself at Kurotsuchi in a fit of rage, only to stop for a moment when that rock thing strolled in the way. He growled at it, attacking it with a flurry of taijutsu strikes and braces of kunai and shuriken. The thing grabbed him as he was about to kick its head, and slammed him into the ground, hard.

They'd hurt both my teammates, my friends. Now it was my turn to start to see red. In a flash, I had flown past the construct, my hands pressed together and held out in front of my head. My hands glowed faintly with a red aura, and I looked back at where I had unleashed the Beak of the Vermillion Bird. I had severed the construct's arm, and quietly, I was glad I had decided against using the technique on Naruto-chan. It probably wouldn't have been pretty. The arm crumbled to pieces, and I landed on the ground, past Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi. If I could get another Beak off, I could destroy the construct, or maybe even kill one of them.

She didn't give me the chance. Another fist to my gut bent me over, and then a hammerblow to the back of my head sent my face slamming into the concrete. I felt at least one tooth chip from that, although like before, the pain faded almost instantly. Kurotsuchi grabbed me by my hair, pulling me up to her height.

"Your hair's way too fucking long. And that scarf you're wearing looks stupid too. I'd cut it off for you, but it's not like you're gonna live through this anyway, so…" Her fist planted itself into my gut once again, and I crumpled. She dropped me to the ground roughly, kicking me as I landed, sending me tumbling away. She slowly walked towards me as I started struggling to get up.

"Take this!" A voice shouted. Naruto-chan had made his way back, it seemed, leaping at Kurotsuchi, aiming a heavy punch at her head from her blindspot. It didn't work, not even close. Naruto-chan stupidly announcing his presence didn't help, but I'm sure she would've noticed anyway. Her head easily moved out of the way, and she grabbed Naruto-chan's wrist, pulling him forward over her shoulder, and driving a knee into his chin.

Naruto-chan seemed momentarily hurt, before bursting into smoke. Kurotsuchi looked at it in shock. "What!?" Six of him suddenly burst from the foliage, all of them cocking fists back to attack her. She dodged all of them, starting to disperse a few, but more and more started to charge from the foliage. Individually, they were all much weaker than her, but maybe he could overwhelm her with sheer numbers. It seemed to be working, at least to some extent. The clones were actually landing a few hits on her, which was more than me or Sasuke-kun had managed to accomplish.

Speaking of, he came crashing down near me. He had been knocked away by either the construct or the one who had made it, I'm not sure which one exactly did it. Either way, the hit had hurt him badly. He was coughing up blood. "Naruto!" I screamed, not knowing where the original was. I pointed at the ninja and his construct. And, happily enough, clones started appearing to distract those two. Man, I needed to get that jutsu off him.

Smiling, my hand lit up with green medical chakra, as I activated the Mystical Palm Technique, laying it on Sasuke's body. I used Diagnosis, which told me there was damage to his ribs, and localised internal damage in that area as well, so I held my hands there, knitting his ribs back together and healing whatever internal damage had been caused by the massive ninja.

"I… didn't know you knew… healing techniques." Sasuke said, still finding it a bit of a struggle to talk through the pain. I smiled at him.

"How else would I have known that sensei had chakra exhaustion from the fight with Zabuza? Besides, every team needs a medic, and there's no way I could trust one of you boys to be that."

"I suppose." He chuckled, opening his eyes. I gasped.

"Sasuke, your sharingan!" And his level, too! He's suddenly level 18? How does that work? Do other people's levels not work the same as mine do?

"What?" He turned, seeing a puddle from Kurotsuchi's water jutsu from earlier. He looked into it from where I was healing him, seeing his red eyes with tomoe spinning around in them, and grinned. "Yes… Now I can win."

"No, you can't. They're still way stronger than we are."

"You just don't understand the power of the sharingan. With this-"

"The sharingan is a dojutsu that has three levels, shown by the amount of tomoe present in the sharingan eyes. The sharingan is able to increase the user's visual acuity and processing speed to the point of being able to predict the opponent's moves by seeing minor muscular twitches in their body which telegraph how their body is going to move. As the number of tomoe increase, this visual acuity and processing speed increases to the point where the possessor's reactions to the opponent's actions can be borderline precognitive. The sharingan is also able to follow the molding and shaping of chakra for jutsu, allowing skilled users to copy jutsu used by opponents, although it cannot see the intricate details of the chakra system itself. Finally, the sharingan is also capable of casting minor genjutsu. The main flaw of the sharingan is that it increases processing speed too much, too quickly. It results in the user processing things at a faster rate than they can move every time they increase their sharingan's level. This leads to the possessor being able to see what's coming, but not being able to do anything about it. Sasuke, you're currently in that group. You can see what's coming, but it doesn't mean _shit._ They're way too strong compared to us. Even with the sharingan, we wouldn't be able to keep up. We need to work as a team to win this, alright?"

He just blinked at me. I guess he didn't expect me to know so much about the sharingan. "I wasn't the academic lead in the academy for nothing, y'know. You're healed. Come on, we've gotta go find the original Naruto." He slowly nodded, and we both faded into the foliage to go find him.

* * *

"Naruto!" I shouted as we ran in the woods, looking. I knew we wouldn't have much time. The clones were working, at least for now, but I knew that wouldn't last. We needed a plan, and fast.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Didja see my clones? Pretty awesome, right!?" He said, as he jumped down from a tree.

"This isn't the time, Naruto. We have to take this seriously. We can't beat them working individually." Sasuke said, surprisingly. I suppose he calmed down from earlier.

"He's right. We need a plan if we're gonna win." If we even can, with the kind of level advantage they have on us… "Okay, I have an idea. I have a technique that might be able to take one of them down if I get a direct hit, that ninjutsu I used when we were saving Kakashi-sensei from Zabuza. There's another one that might do the trick, too, but I don't want to take chances. The only problem with it is that it requires me to charge it up. But if you distract the two of them long enough for me to get a shot off… we might have a chance of actually winning this fight."

"How are we meant to do that?"

"I don't know. You're gonna have to figure that out, Sasuke. Even just engaging in taijutsu for a few seconds would be-"

"Guys, _move_!" I leapt from where I had been standing at Naruto's shout, Sasuke doing the same. And not a second too soon, as another jet of water flew past us. It would've been a direct hit had we not moved.

"How'd she get rid of all the clones so quickly!?"

"I dunno! She breathed out some grey gooey stuff that was really hot, and it took out loads of clones!"

I looked to Naruto. How had he known..? Whatever, it was a question for later. We moved again, bursting back to where the fight had been taking place before. There, I could see a big portion of the clearing was covered by some grey cement-looking material, and almost all of the clones were gone. However, I didn't dwell on it too much. Naruto spawned more clones, all of them going to focus on the fat guy exclusively, and Sasuke went to fight Kurotsuchi. After a moment's hesitation, I decided to start charging up a Magic Cannon, focused on Akatsuchi. He was higher level, and I didn't want to risk hitting Sasuke.

I landed on the ground, right hand cupped where chakra was coalescing into a cube.

Four seconds.

The one armed construct attacked me, and I leapt over its fist, landing on the thing's arm. I ran on it, kicking off of its head.

Three seconds.

The thing grabbed at me, but a Magic Bullet formed in my left hand, and I fired at its hand, blasting two of its fingers off.

Two seconds.

I landed in the crowd of Naruto clones, and two of them grabbed my arms.

One second.

They threw me straight at Akatsuchi, and I cocked my right hand back.

I fired the Magic Cannon at point-blank range, the explosion sending me flying back. I felt my hand explode and rip apart at the intense force as it collided with the man's gut and detonated. Over the sound of the explosion, I heard a faint shout of Aka-something, plus something that sounded like my own name. It looks like my eardrums got ruptured.

The pain was intense, but again, it only lasted for a second. I looked down at my hand to see the state it was in after that, and… it was… completely fine? "What?" And I just heard myself speak? What the fuck!? Quickly, I checked my status. My HP was way down, further down than it had been before, but… this didn't make any sense. Like, at all.

 **Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one!**

Seeing those, I quickly looked at Akatsuchi. He wasn't dead. But he was certainly out for the count, unless Kurotsuchi was also a medic. And speaking of which, she was staring at me, with more anger in her eyes than I had ever seen in my life.

 **Sense KI has increased in level by one! Sense KI has increased in level by one! Sense KI has increased in level by one! Sense KI has increased in level by one! Sense KI has increased in level by one!**

"I'm going to fucking murder you."

* * *

 **And that's it. Apologies for this taking so long, things have been pretty hectic in my life currently. But anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. See you all later!**


	12. Crushed

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Crushed**

I felt it before I saw it.

She planted her fist in my stomach with incredible speed and force. It sent me flying, blood coming up unbidden from my stomach out of my mouth. She was on me before I even hit the ground, before the pain had even begun to fade. She slammed me again in the stomach with a snap kick, just sending me flying even faster. I slammed into a tree, feeling some of the bark on it crack on impact. I slid down the tree, the pain fading already, but I was struggling to keep my eyes open. Checking my status, my HP was low. Really low, at critical levels.

"I hope this works…" I said, grunting. Unfortunately, levelling up didn't seem to restore my HP and MP, but… Hopefully I'd have enough as is. My hand glowed green with medical chakra again, and I placed it on my stomach. Instantly, my HP began to refill, and my MP drained, though at a much slower rate. I sighed, closing my eyes and waiting till I was fully healed.

* * *

I opened my eyes, sensing something coming. Dodging out of the way of a jet of water, I cursed as I cancelled the Mystical Palm Technique. Not only was I not fully healed, I hadn't allocated the points I had gotten from Akatsuchi's defeat yet! Ugh. First order of business would be to do that, as soon as I got a chance.

"You're still standing?" She said, suddenly in front of me, her voice completely devoid of emotion. I looked up at her, and her eyes… they were somehow both completely cold and unfeeling, and filled with rage, hate. I could see how badly she wanted to kill me, and what was worse, I could see how she was managing to restrain herself, so she could have fun taking me apart. It was…

"But you're terrified. Good."

In an instant, I was sent flying once again.

* * *

Things repeated like that again and again, but this time she wasn't giving me any breaks. She must've... _taken care_ of Sasuke and Naruto. Please, please, don't have killed them-

I coughed out blood again, as my body collided with the hard ground. The she-devil kicked me in the side, sending me flying into a tree. My vision wavered, threatening to darken, but I managed to keep myself awake. Distantly, I heard an explosion. Sasuke or Kakashi must be coming to save me… My hand fluttered over to my abdomen, lighting up with healing chakra. The demon in woman's clothing had left, probably to go and deal with whatever caused that explosion. The pain was fading already. I could see my bruises disappearing.

 **Mystical Palm Technique has increased in level by one!**

I opened my status, and dumped all my points into my INT. I needed both to regain my chakra, and to lose less of it. It probably wouldn't help that much, but…

 **By raising INT above 50, you have gained the passive skill 'Malleability.'**

 **Malleability (Passive) LVMAX  
The user's control over their internal energies has improved to the level where one could call those energies completely malleable. They are able to shape and change the properties of their power in ways that have been unseen in years, and this changing and shaping comes as easy to them as breathing.  
Reduces MP cost of all skills by 20%.  
Reduces cost of elemental techniques by a further 10%.  
Reduces cost of shaping techniques by a further 10%.  
Allows certain shape manipulation techniques to be created without teaching.**

What? I got a skill for- I grabbed my head, suddenly wracked with a headache, and a bad one at that. I felt my chakra itself shift, and then the pain faded, as quick it came.

…Anyway, I got a skill for raising my stats? That's… Heh. With that, and with my increased INT, maybe now we can actually win. I stood, and headed in the direction of that explosion.

* * *

I stopped in a tree. I could see her. She was slowly walking towards something… Naruto! He was beaten. He looked unconscious. She was going to… A Magic Bullet sprang to life, as I leapt at her exposed back. I'd reach her before she could react! I heard someone screaming. They should really quieten down, we're in the middle of a fight here. I thoughtlessly converted the Bullet into a Blast, as I cocked my hand back, and slammed it into her. I felt her body pulp under the force of the attack, and I smiled, as she popped into smoke, being replaced by a log, and smashed me in the chin with an uppercut, sending me flying again.

"You're quite fun to use as a punching bag, y'know?" She quipped, hitting me with a roundhouse kick, sending me skipping against the ground, where I could feel my skin tearing from the multiple impacts. My flight was final stopped when I collided with a bush, the thorns in it digging into my skin.

She was already there. She picked me up. "You're going to pay for what you did to Akatsuchi. I won't kill you. No, I'll just make you my little… pet. Hope you like torture."

"Go to hell."

"Awww, you've got a mouth on you, too!" She cried, before her face darkened. "I'll have to fix that." She sent me on another flight, this time hitting both my torso and my arm. I felt my ulna shatter at the impact, and this time, I screamed.

* * *

I tried to sit up, nursing my now broken right arm. I don't know if I'll be able to- What!? Before my eyes, I could see the arm knitting itself together, even though I hadn't even prepared a healing technique. Was someone healing me? I checked my status, but even as I could see my arm being repaired, my HP remained constant. So it must've been something else. The Gamer's Body…? But why would it… Oh. In games, even when they've taken damage, game characters usually never get disadvantaged by it. Ignoring status effects, there are usually two states – alive, or dead. I didn't realise Gamer's Body would go so far… Shit, I'm gonna have to be careful I don't magically start healing wounds in front of people. Too many questions. Thanks for giving me a healing jutsu, Dad. At least I can explain it away with that if it happens while I'm alone, or if I'm quick enough.

Speaking of, I used the Mystical Palm. Although my body was outwardly healed, my HP was low. I guess the only point of healing myself is to keep that up, but since I'd probably die if it reached zero… yeah. It's worth the chakra loss.

* * *

Whack. "How…"

Thwack. "Are all of you…"

Boom. "Standing!?"

"I dunno." Sasuke quipped, spitting out some blood, and getting punched for it. There's gonna be another bruise joining that black eye. If I had any chakra left, I'd fix him up.

"And why the hell are you two still uninjured? If you knew healing techniques and had the chakra left to heal, you would have healed him by now."

"Maybe we just have an awesome plan-" Bang, Naruto's gone. And by the by, we have no plan. Kakashi's taking his sweet time. We really are in danger here, especially because if she goes to town on me, she might see the Gamer healing, or even kill me. She can't see my HP, after all.

"You can't beat us."

"Tell that to the past fifteen minutes." I coughed, doubling over on her fist. I looked up at her, her eyes blazing, and simply smiled.

"Your friend's going to die if you don't get him some help."

She faltered. For half a second. Not nearly enough for me to do anything, not like it would have mattered anyways. All I did was make her angrier. "And whose fault is that? Huh!?" She screamed at me, backhanding me. For once, her hit didn't send me flying, but her kick to my stomach sure did. I vomited a little as I landed. I saw her coming, and as my body fixed itself, I made a show of struggling to move, biting my lip to bring down a stream of blood from the corner of my mouth.

"When Kakashi comes, he'll slaughter you, y'know. When he sees us. He's gonna-" I wheezed, her fist hitting me in the gut again. Some blood sloshed into my mouth, and as she looked at me, with tears in her eyes and anger marring her features, I simply gave her a bloody smirk.

Her face darkened again. She was at her angriest now. "I hate you shitty treehuggers so fucking much!" She screamed, her fist going straight for my face. But it stopped, inches from hitting.

"She was right. I'm furious." Kakashi said, pulling her back from me, staring at her with hard eyes, Sharingan uncovered. "Kitsuchi is dead. And your friend will be too, if you don't leave _right now_ and save his life. It's your choice whether you want to save both your lives, or end them."

Even still, the only person Kurotsuchi had eyes for was me. "I won't forget this. I will pay you back for what you did." She said, and then left.

I sighed.

"I'm sorry. I knew you weren't ready to face them, but I thought…"

Kakashi's voice drifted off, as my eyes slid shut.

* * *

We got out of that pretty lightly, all things considered. The only persisting injury after I regained my chakra was Sasuke-kun having a broken arm, and even then, that was mostly healed, I just didn't trust myself to fix it perfectly, so I only healed it up to a certain point.

But… the physical side isn't everything.

"We got…" Naruto-chan started, trailing off.

"Crushed. Completely and utterly crushed. By one girl." Sasuke-kun said, fists clenching.

I looked at the floor for a moment, before looking him in the eye. "It had to happen at some point. We're fresh, rookie genin. We're nowhere even close to unbeatable. I mean, sure, I thought we were better than that, but… This is a good thing. We still have a lot left to catch up on."

"Sakura's right, you know."

 **Legacy of White, Yellow and Red** **  
** **LV 59** **  
** **Hatake Kakashi**

We all turned, to look at Sensei, who looked at each of us in turn. He sighed a little, before continuing. "I knew you weren't ready to fight them from the get go. But defeating Kitsuchi while using as little chakra as possible so I could come back you up required all my focus, so I had to split it up how I did. And… In the back of my mind, I thought that somehow, someway, you would find a way to win. And you took one of them out. Nice job, by the way. But I see that I was wrong and that's okay. This is reality. They were simply more experienced from the get go. The only reason you managed to take one of them out is because they underestimated you severely. And you know better than I just how much of a gap there was in your ability when they decided it was time to stop messing around." At that, we all looked at the floor. He paused for a moment, letting us contemplate, before continuing.

"But it's an experience you needed, lest it happened when there wouldn't be anyone to bail you out. You aren't invincible, you aren't all mighty. No one is, and I doubt anyone ever will be. You needed to learn that. And realise something else, too. The gap between your and their power? That's about half the gap, maybe even less, between theirs and mine. You weren't fighting jonin. Those two were on the high end of chunin. There's a long road ahead of you if you want to become the best."

"That being said…" He squatted down, putting his arms around the three of us. "That being said, you performed excellently, considering the circumstances. Well done."

"I'm proud of you."

* * *

 **And that's Wave! Sorry this took so long to come out, but I've been busy pretty much all month. However, my schedule's opening up again, so look forward to frequent updates once again!**


	13. Homeward Bound

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 12**

 **Homeward Bound**

From what we heard from Kakashi-sensei, Gato had been planning on taking us out no matter who won the fight. He had apparently got all his thugs together into a huge army, and was planning on taking us on after the fight was over. I can only imagine that he would've done it if the Rock nin won too. Or maybe he was just trying to be sure we were dealt with. I dunno. Kakashi-sensei was still in decent shape after his fight, so he managed to take out their entire army and capture Gato. ANBU are already on their way to pick him up, apparently.

So, we've got nothing else to do here but wait until the bridge is finished, and to make sure no remnants of Gato's forces try anything stupid. We'll likely be here another few days.

* * *

I stood with the rest of the team, at the bridge's opening ceremony, not using my time spent idle on more grinding on my fire manipulation for once. To be honest, I've actually got that pretty high considering how long ago I discovered my nature. I should probably move on to do some earth training at this point. Though part of me feels like it's not all that worth it.

"So, what else could I name it-"

Oh, shit, stuff's happening.

"-but the Great Leaf Bridge?"

The name was met with applause and cheering, which quickly moved from just being a celebration in general to a celebration directed at us. And it made me realise something. We had overlooked it in moping about our loss to Kurotsuchi, but the fact is, we saved these people. Even if we weren't the ones who beat them, we at least held them off for Kakashi-sensei. The fact made me smile, a little, and I saw the same on Sasuke-kun's face, though he tried to hide it. Naruto-chan, though… he looked frightened, at first. But then, he gave the brightest grin I've ever seen on him, and he laughed.

 **He Who Fights For Those He Loves  
LV 11  
Uzumaki Naruto**

* * *

The trip back home was much faster than the trip to Wave. The only part that slowed us down was the boat trip back to the mainland, and I tried to use it as an excuse for Kakashi-sensei to teach the boys water walking, but he refused. He said it wasn't worth it to do it in the sea, and he'd teach them properly at home. Seeing he wouldn't budge, I relented. We'd still get back by tomorrow by the latest.

* * *

Walking up to the gates, I sighed in relief. It'd be great to finally sleep in my… oh, wait, I shouldn't be sleeping in the first place. Fuck, I still have to remember that. Suddenly, I heard a loud cry of "Sasuke-kun!" from ahead of us, and saw a yellow blur moving towards him at high speed. I didn't even think about it. I Substituted with Sasuke-kun, and the blur collided with me instead. Why don't I use Substitution more often, now that I think about it?

"Eh!? How the heck did you get in the way, Forehead?"

 **Mrs. Beauty  
LV 7  
Yamanaka Ino**

She's lower level than I would have expected. "Maybe your eyesight's going? Needing glasses probably won't mix well with using the Sharingan."

"Ha. Funny." She said, letting go of me. "Anyway, you've wasted enough of my time. Sasuke-"

"Hey, Ino."

"What?"

"Why are we doing this? We can still be friends even if we both like Sasuke-kun."

"Really? I don't-"

"I'm friends with Ami. If I managed that, then any excuse you have for us being friends is just that. An excuse."

She didn't have a response to that. I placed a hand on her shoulder as I walked past. "Think about that."

I looked towards the rest of Team 10.

 **Lethargic Genius  
LV 8  
Nara Shikamaru**

 **Big Boned Protector  
LV 10  
Akimichi Choji**

Disappointing was the first word that came to mind, to be honest. I mean, alright, Choji was only a level off of Naruto-chan, but… Naruto-chan was the dead last in the academy. They should still be stronger than he is, when you factor in that and their clan advantage. Had they not been training at all with their sensei? I bet Ami could take Ino or Shikamaru, and if that's true, then they have a hell of a lot of work ahead, considering that almost everything she's learnt after the academy's been self-taught.

* * *

Our teams separated quickly, as they were heading out as we were going in, and as they left, I said "Kakashi-sensei, why were they so much weaker than us?"

"You could tell? Hmm. Well, they're not that much weaker than you. You're all stronger than them, true, but there's not much of a gap between you. However, the gap between you guys and them is only going to get larger and larger if nothing's done, and the reason for that is the same reason they're already weaker. It's motivation. Team 10, as they are, are unusually unmotivated, what with their composition, and with Asuma as their sensei, they don't have anyone really pushing them to change that. You guys are the opposite. You guys are always ready for a challenge, always up for training. That quality is really what sets you apart."

"Hmm. Okay."

* * *

"We're going to do something different today." It'd been about a week and a half since we had gotten back to the village from Wave. I looked up at Sensei from where I had been stretching questioningly. "Come with me, you three. We're having a joint exercise."

"With who?" Naruto-chan asked.

"Your fellow rookies, of course. Remember our little talk about motivation? I thought this would be a nice way of motivating Team 10. And it would be rude to leave out Team 8 from the festivities."

"Kakashi-sensei, by the way, by our fellow rookies, do you mean everyone who's in the system in our age group?"

"Well, no. I mean you, Team 8, and Team 10. Why?"

"Well, at least two of our year's graduates are in the reserves, and I thought it might be a good idea to include them too."

"Hmm. Well, why not?"

* * *

We all met in a training field, however we took some time after what the scheduled start time was to get Ami and Aya-san here. I took that time to survey Team 8.

 **Pale Wallflower  
LV 9  
Hyuga Hinata**

 **The Dog Who Cried Wolf  
LV 9  
Inuzuka Kiba**

 **Rational Insectophile  
LV 10  
Aburame Shino**

Better than Team 10, but still worse than us. Disappointing still, but to a lesser extent. But now Ami and Aya-san are here, and we can finally begin.

 **No One's Little Baby Bear  
LV 8  
Kokuma Ami**

 **Lone Wolf  
LV 14  
Namiki Aya**

* * *

So the first thing on the agenda is a tournament. I guess the idea is for us to sweep and show everyone else they're behind? I dunno, won't spend time thinking about it. First up is me and Kiba. Sorry, doggy.

"Hah! Easy first fight! Come on Akamaru, we're gonna win this!"

I ignored him, forming a Magic Bullet. I heard some murmuring behind me, but I don't know who it was. I played with the shape of the thing. From my testing in Wave and after we got back, it seemed Malleability gave me the ability to change my bullets into shapes that weren't regular polygons, and also just helped me split them up more evenly, stuff like that. It'd given me an idea.

As the fight began, I moved out of the way of Kiba's predictable forward charge, into the underbrush formed by False Surroundings. I hit him with Hell Viewing before he even turned, and before he broke it, formed a bunch of Clones – still have to get an actual clone technique – to confuse him, running in and out of the visible area.

While the idiot mutt went and dealt with that the only way he knew how, with brute force, I continued my idea, forming my Bullet into a katana, putting in chakra as needed when I couldn't elongate it any more.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through manipulation of mana, the skill 'Variable Blade' has been created**!

Sweet.

 **Variable Blade (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
A weapon created from the manipulation and condensation of energy into such a state where it has a physical presence and effect upon the world around it. Can be easily morphed into a different form to fit the situation.  
Damage increases with INT and WIS.**

So essentially, instead of having skills for all the variations of weapons that could be created, they all just fit neatly under one. Nice. Less clutter.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through the use of weaponry, the skill 'Kenjutsu Mastery' has been created!**

Oh, that reminds me, I haven't found anyone to help me with kenjutsu. At least now I don't need a weapon. I probably should still get one, though. At the very least, it means I use less chakra.

Refocusing on the fight – if you could call it that, he still hasn't realised I'm still hiding – I waited for my chance. When he went for a full force punch on a Clone, dispelling it and unbalancing himself from the lack of resistance, I struck. I Lunged, and swung in one smooth motion, making sure not to enhance it with a Power Strike or anything. I didn't want to really injure him, and the cut was a light one, anyway.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through the use of swift strokes, the skill 'Iaido Mastery' has been created!**

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through the use of a high-speed slash, the skill 'Step Sword' has been created!**

Today is a profitable day.

Kiba staggered back from the unexpected attack, and I went on the offensive, letting my sword dissolve from my hand, and coming in with a punch. This one I did enhance, and hit him in the face as hard as I could. And just like that, I dissolved away into the underbrush again, waiting for my chance to attack again. Why the idiot doesn't use his fucking nose, I don't know, but I won't complain.

* * *

One thing I discovered I could also do thanks to Malleability was delaying my Bullets. I could place them down, and then keep them there. I couldn't move them again once they were down, though, and they still only flew in straight lines. But it was fun to overcharge bullets so they shone brightly, set them down, and wait for him to come charging in so they'd fire right into his face. By the end of the fight, he refused to move from the part of the field that wasn't obscured, simply waiting for me. I responded by simply delaying Bullets all around him from the foliage, and setting them off towards him from every direction. He managed to substitute, though. Boring.

"Kiba." I said, walking from the underbrush. "You should probably give up. You still haven't hit me yet, and you're starting to lose a lot of blood from the cut I gave you. I can patch you-" I dodged his haymaker, driving a Bullet into his stomach, kicking out his feet from under him, and sitting his back as he fell to the ground. "-up, if you just surrender. I do have other fights, and I don't want to waste all of my chakra."

I heard something, muffled from the ground. Jumping off him, he repeated what he had said, flipping over so he looked up at me. "Bite me."

Sighing, I looked down at him, disappointed. He'd left me with no choice. "I give up. It's not worth it convincing someone as stubborn as you that you can't win, and I'm not willing to fully incapacitate you for that outcome, too." With that, I sat, dispelling what remained of my genjutsu, and going straight into healing Kiba's wounds. "Why do we have so many stubborn idiots in our year?" I grumbled.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. I told you that updates would be coming faster again.**


	14. Xenologue 1

**This Game of Life**

 **Xenologue 1**

"So, how have you found training your team, Kakashi?"

"Mmm? Easy enough, I suppose. To be honest, it's been more like me watching over them training themselves. I suppose that's the benefit of a team like mine."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kakashi paused from where he was in his novel to look over at Kurenai. "Oh, didn't you know?"

"Hokage-sama's given me three prodigies."

* * *

"Kiba's an idiot. Sakura-chan's gonna beat the crap out of him now." Naruto worriedly said.

"Really? Because from the look on your face, I'd imagine Forehead's gonna be the one who loses." Ino scoffed. "I mean, she has smarts, but she was never even close to being the best practically. Kiba'll run all over her."

"Haruno-san will win." Aya quietly stated, not adding anything else to the conversation.

"I concur." Shino simply stated, while Shikamaru gave a grunt of agreement from where he was lying on the ground.

"Yeah, she's definitely going to win," Ami stated, which Sasuke nodded to, along with Hinata.

"She's gotten a lot stronger," Choji stated simply.

Ino looked around, looking for some support, but it seemed none of the other rookies agreed with her.

"Yeah, well, I was just saying from past experience-"

"A word of advice," Ami interrupted. "When dealing with ninja, never use past experiences to prove that something in the future is certain. You'll just get embarrassed."

* * *

"What do you mean, three prodigies?" Asuma asked, curious now.

Kakashi sighed – _Dammit, I was getting to the good bit –_ , closing his book. "Well, we all know Sasuke is a prodigy. And Naruto is, for reasons we all know about, and others, too. He's a kinesthetic learner, and he's actually very talented. The academy simply wasn't the right environment for him to learn effectively. He's quickly catching up to Sasuke. And Sakura… well. Would it be fair to say that Hinata has prodigious chakra control?"

"Well, of course. She's a Hyuga, after all." Kurenai said, stating the obvious.

"Well, then Sakura's a prodigy as well. Because I believe her control is even better than Hinata's. And not just slightly better, or moderately better. To be perfectly honest, I can slightly understand why it wasn't caught by the academy. For the most part, until recently, it was all internal. But now… Well, I'm sure she'll show us. Just watch." Kakashi explained, silently watching Sakura. After a moment, Asuma and Kurenai began watching her too, and all three jonin clearly saw the cube of blue chakra spring up from her hand.

* * *

"What jutsu is that?" Choji asked, curiously.

"I've never seen any jutsu like that before. Intriguing." Shino stated.

"I'm almost certain she made it herself," Sasuke stated. "That's how she said she came across it, and from all the variations of it she's made, I'm willing to believe her."

"Does it not require handseals?"

"I've never seen her use them for it. In fact, I haven't seen her use handseals at all for a while now."

"Intriguing."

"Oh, there it is. She's started her usual strategy." Ami said, some of the rookies looking at her quizzically. "She sets up an area of effect genjutsu to create some cover. She does it over an area so it can't be dispelled, as it's not directly influencing our chakra systems. Then she makes some clones and makes them run around, and then she starts hit-and-run tactics."

Aya simply watched intently.

* * *

"You saw that, right?"

"Yep. What was that?" Asuma asked.

"It was… a feat of pure chakra control. Bringing out a small amount of chakra externally, quickly forming a shell over it so it doesn't dissipate, and even making it float, and shaping it too… Not even I could do that in an instant. Is this what you meant, Kakashi?"

"Yeah, this is what I meant. Agree with me now, Kurenai?"

"Well, I have to… even if it is… insane. How did Iruka not pick up on this?"

"Like I said, I have a feeling it was all internal before. I'm not sure what caused it, but she suddenly realised that external chakra control was possible, and she's actually made it into a feasible offensive jutsu. And not only that, but it's one only she can use, unless you're Tsunade. Another thing I've noticed is that lately, when she does use a jutsu other than that, which she's named Magic Bullet, by the way, she doesn't use seals."

"Her control can't possibly be that good."

"Not only did she manage to apparently learn the Mystical Palm in a day, I have seen her use it without handseals."

"Have you told Hokage-sama about this?"

"Of course I have. He's unsure of how to proceed. I don't think anything like this has ever happened before. It'd be an amazing boon to pull her straight into the Medical Corps, but then we miss out on anything else she might create, and besides, she's infatuated with Sasuke, and Naruto with her. I don't want to pull their team apart."

* * *

"She's taking her time. When I spar with her, she's usually attacked by now." Ami stated.

"Knowing her? She's probably invented something and is gonna use Kiba as a test dummy." Sasuke sighed.

When Sakura appeared from the underbrush, pink hair flowing behind her, and with a blue sword in hand, slashing Kiba, Ami chuckled, while Sasuke simply facepalmed, sighing.

Ino watched, slightly – _Slightly, I said_ – awed with Sakura.

* * *

"She…"

"It has a physical presence, too."

"…Please, let me mentor her in genjutsu."

"That's her decision to make, Kurenai."

* * *

"She's toying with him."

"Sakura-san is clearly the better fighter. But-"

"Inuzuka-san is much too stubborn to surrender, right, Aburame-san?"

"Yes, Namiki-san. Exactly."

With a sigh, Aya spoke. "I change my p-prediction. Haruno-san'll lose on a technicality."

Ami sighed. "You're probably right."

Naruto looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Just watch, Naruto. You'll understand what they mean." Sasuke added, exasperatedly.

* * *

"See?"

"You were right. Mystical Palm without handseals… This is ridiculous. I'd kill to have that kind of control in ten years."

"We all knew this batch were special."

"Special doesn't even come close to cutting it."

* * *

 **And that's that. These Xenologues will be going back to previous events, just looking at them from a third person perspective. Tell me if you like them! I'll gladly do more if you do. And It's just occurred to me I didn't write anything from Kiba or Akamaru's point of view. Meh. I'll do it if there's a big demand.**


	15. Tourney

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 13**

 **Tourney**

"The winner is Kiba."

"Wait, what?" He asked confusedly. I shook my head, just continuing to heal his wound. He really had lost a lot of blood. I doubt the idiot even noticed.

"Don't question it, Kiba. Just accept it."

He looked at me, still confused, before shrugging and turning to Akamaru. "Yahoo! We did it, Akamaru! Told you it'd be an easy win!" To his credit, Akamaru just looked at him before padding away to where everyone else was. Smart dog. Shame he got paired with Kiba.

"You're all healed. Come on, get your ass up so they can start the next match." I said, cutting off Mystical Palm and walking over to the group, hands in pockets. I noticed certain eyes on me. Shikamaru's. Aya-san's. Ami's, Shino's. And the sensei's, too. I shrugged, taking it in stride. The next fight was Ami and Ino.

 **No One's Little Baby Bear  
LV 8  
Kokuma Ami**

 **Mrs. Beauty  
LV 7  
Yamanaka Ino**

And it looked like Ami was gonna win that fight.

* * *

I sat down, legs crossed, as Ami and Ino stood where Kiba and I had stood a few minutes earlier. As the fight began, Ino smirked. She hadn't said anything, but she thought that this would be an easy win. We all knew it. To be fair to her, unlike with Kiba, she was perfectly justified in thinking that. She'd graduated higher in the rankings than Ami, she was from a noble clan, she had a jonin sensei while Ami had a chunin at most. But I'd literally just proved that nothing was certain with a fight with ninja, not even when we're genin.

Ami stood loosely in a new stance. It seemed to favour attacking with closed fists, mainly using the legs for bracing herself, but they could still be used for attack. It seemed very similar to that old style I had seen when I found Suzaku's style. What had it been called? Boxing, or something like that.

Ino's hands flew up into what must be a very familiar configuration for her. "Mind Transf-"

Her jutsu call was interrupted, as Ami sped up to her, and let fly with a brutal right hook that almost knocked Ino off her feet. She went straight into a left jab, then quickly stepping to the right, punching her in the side with her right, then slamming her with an uppercut, finishing with a right jab. She stepped back, giving Ino a moment to regain her balance. But before she could even think of what to do, Ami let rip once again, starting with a roundhouse kick to the head, before stepping back in for another flurry of punches. She'd gotten a lot faster since I've seen her, and she's trained a lot with this style. Her movements with it were incredibly fluid, and she never let Ino have a break if she could avoid it. She finally stopped when Ino stopped even trying to react, the girl only swaying on her feet. Ami stepped back from her quickly, before moving out of her stance and just looking at her.

"You gonna wake up, and give me any challenge at all? Or are ya just gonna sit there and take it, princess?" Ami's words seemed to wake her up a little, and Ino grit her teeth. Slipping into the academy style, she rushed at her opponent, flinging a wild haymaker at Ami. Ami just sighed as she approached, easily dodging, and bringing her fists up for a final combo that ended with an uppercut that finally knocked Ino down, and she didn't get up. The whole match had barely taken two minutes.

"Don't challenge Ami to a taijutsu-only spar, got it." Someone quietly remarked, and the rest of us could only agree.

"Ami, could you bring Ino over here so I can heal her? You hit her in the head so much I'm worried she might've gotten a concussion."

"Sure." Ami picked up the unconscious Ino, bringing her over to me. After using Diagnosis, I could see that I was right about the concussion. I sighed, healing her, as Sasuke-kun and Shikamaru got ready for their fight.

 **Lethargic Genius  
LV 8  
Nara Shikamaru**

 **The Last Uchiha** **  
** **LV 15** **  
** **Uchiha Sasuke**

Kakashi-sensei came over, putting a hand on Sasuke-kun's shoulder as he bent down and whispered something in his ear. Sasuke-kun nodded, and Kakashi-sensei hesitated for a moment before he continued. "Got it," Sasuke-kun grunted out, most of his focus on the fight that was about to take place. His eyes were already darting around, looking for cover and escape routes, stuff like that. I noticed that they were black, too. Did he not consider Shikamaru strong enough to bother using the Sharingan? I mean, he was right, and it'd conserve chakra… But he shouldn't underestimate people like that.

* * *

I looked down for a second, right as the fight began, but my head sprang up at the near instant cry of "Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Shikamaru just barely dodged the huge fireball, jumping to the side, Sasuke-kun instantly on him, pulling out a kunai with his right hand. He swiped it at Shikamaru, sweeping it upwards towards the left, and letting go at the end of its arc. Shikamaru backed away, his back hitting a tree, as Sasuke-kun grabbed the kunai with his left, bringing it forward in a thrust that buried it next to Shikamaru's head, hilt-deep into the tree.

"I think that's my win," Sasuke-kun said simply, pulling out the kunai and walking away, stowing it as he did so. Shikamaru didn't seem too bothered by his loss, although he looked like he was thinking about something. That fight had lasted about five seconds.

No one spoke up about what had just happened. I think we were all still digesting just how quickly it had taken place. After a moment, Aya-san and Choji started, realising it was their turn to fight. The two of them approached their starting positions, a blush on Aya-san's face.

 **Lone Wolf  
LV 14  
Namiki Aya**

 **Big Boned Protector  
LV 10  
Akimichi Choji**

* * *

"D-Don't think that I'm g-going to hold back, just because it's you, Choji-san!"

"Why would I think that?" Choji asked, confused as to why she would even say that.

"She's crushing on him so hard." I sighed. "Does he even know?"

"Nope," Shikamaru said, collapsing to the ground near me. "He's almost as bad as Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto-chan said, looking at us. "What do you mean?"

I chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Why don't you go ask Hinata for some tips on how to fight Shino?"

"That's a great idea, Sakura-chan! Thanks!" He said, immediately going off to talk to her. I didn't even have to look to know that she fainted when I heard him panicking in the background. I noticed Shikamaru's eyes on me again.

"Something you wanna ask, Shikamaru?"

"…No. It's too troublesome to bother. I'm taking a nap." He said, closing his eyes and laying his head on the ground. I looked at him for a moment more, before turning back to Aya-san and Choji. Even though the fight had technically started, neither had made a move yet. Aya-san seemed at war with herself, while Choji just looked confused. After an agonisingly long moment, Aya-san hesitantly approached, and Choji switched on. Aya-san threw some shuriken at the Akimichi heir, and he batted them away with an enlarged fist. Aya-san used that to close in physically, attacking with a jumping knee strike. Do we just have a knack for finding weird, old taijutsu styles or something? I've never seen a style that uses the knees like that.

He blocked it pretty easily, though the blow rattled him a bit. Aya-san was the shortest out of all of us, even shorter than Naruto-chan, so I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting her to be that strong and didn't brace up properly. Aya-san kicked off the arm he had used to block, pulling out… a flute? She started playing, and instantly, I felt a genjutsu start taking over, as the notes came to my ears. I then felt it instantly break, due to Gamer's Mind's mental protection, but it started reforming instantly, my powers constantly breaking it. I looked up from where I was still healing Ino, around at everyone. It looked that all the rookies couldn't keep up and had succumbed, and even the senseis were having trouble dispelling it. It wasn't that the genjutsu was hard to dispel, it was that each note was infused by it, so the difficulty was dispelling not the one jutsu, but all of them continuously. I looked up at her, a look of intense concentration on her face. This must've been incredibly hard for her to learn.

After a few seconds, she stopped playing and retrieved a kunai. With shaky hands, she started to put the kunai to Choji's neck, but… she couldn't. She faltered, dropping her hands. She looked like she was about to cry. "I forfeit." She quietly stated, dispelling the genjutsu on Choji and walking back to the group, completely silent. I think that I was the only one other than the senseis to see that. Either she had some serious qualms about killing, or even threatening to kill, or she had some really strong feelings for Choji. Considering she was a clan heir, though?

I guess Choji's just a lucky guy.

* * *

After everyone was woken up and told about the results of the match, which was met with pretty much mass confusion, Shino and Naruto-chan took their positions for their match. Hinata luckily, or unluckily, considering who she's most likely gonna fight, got a by to the next round.

 **Rational Insectophile  
LV 10  
Aburame Shino**

 **He Who Fights For Those He Loves**  
 **LV 11**  
 **Uzumaki Naruto**

Although, to be fair, this could be really close. Naruto-chan should win, considering he was higher level, but it'd probably be a hard fight for him.

* * *

As the match began, Naruto-chan predictably started off with five clones. But the other rookies don't know he can use shadow clones… I suppose Shino's in for a surprise. All the Naruto-chans threw a brace of shuriken at Shino, who stepped back, dodging all of them. He was being cautious, it'd be easy to lose track of the 'real' shuriken in a hail of that many. And considering they were all real to begin with…

Two Naruto-chans rushed in to attack physically. I could Shino stop and consider the fact that at least one of them was a clone, and how he should approach fending them off. I saw him glance down at one's feet, and as he saw a shadow, I think he assumed that that was the real one. "He's made a mistake. It could be fatal if Naruto capitalizes on it correctly." Sasuke-kun mused, while everyone else seemed confused, apart from Shikamaru – of course he caught it – and… Hinata? Wouldn't have expected her to have noticed before Aya-san- oh, yeah. Byakugan, that explains it. Though I haven't seen her use it yet today.

Shino focused on the one had been looking at, and with a swift punch, he hit him on the cheek and sent out his bugs to start draining chakra… when the clone dispelled. Shino instantly began to turn, but it was too late. The other clone hit him, and the rest of the Naruto-chans rushed in, the original making more clones.

"I forfeit. Naruto-san has me at a disadvantage. I have nothing that can easily take down his physical clones, and it would take much too long for my kikaichu to drain him regularly." Shino said, pushing up his sunglasses on his face. Naruto froze, before letting out an explosive sigh.

"Aw, what? Everyone else got to have really cool fights! Why do I get the short stick, huh? Why?"

* * *

 **And that's that. See you all when next I update.**


	16. Tourney (part 2)

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Tourney (part 2)**

There's a break before we move on to the second round of the tournament. It gave me enough time to heal Ino and wake her up, so she didn't miss too much. She wasn't the happiest, though, and I can't really blame her.

In some respects, her fight with Ami was even more embarrassing than mine. Ami didn't have a sensei anywhere near Asuma-sensei's calibre, and she'd always been worse than Ino in the academy, so for her to be beaten by Ami so easily…

She got up abruptly, and walked off. I watched her go, not saying anything. She needed the time to herself.

Besides, it'd be much better for her to realise that she needed to train harder in her own. She might actually keep at it that way.

I walked over to Naruto-chan and Sasuke-kun, both of whom were chatting about their matches. "Well done," I said, smiling. "And good luck to the both of you." Both of them nodded, Naruto-chan giving me that grin of his.

"Sakura!" I heard Ami call, and I turned around to see her approaching us.

"Yo. What's up?" I asked, curious.

"Any advice with KIba?" She simply stated.

"You and him are pretty similar. Straightforward taijutsu for the both of you. Your taijutsu is more refined than his, I think. But he has the physical edge. And that matters quite a lot at our age, so… I think he'll win."

"Oh… Right. Guess I got lucky with fighting Ino first, huh?"

"Yeah. But the gap between you and Kiba isn't that big, and you're smarter than him. You might be able to outsmart him."

"I don't have anything that could lure him like that, though. Apart from clones."

"Try using them with the Transformation to confuse him. And throw in a lot of Substitution, too."

"So, your style?"

"Pretty much. He doesn't stop and think long enough to realise he could figure you out if he used his nose. Use that to your advantage."

"Right. Thanks, Sakura."

"No problem."

She jogged off. Probably to see if she could get some info out of Hinata or maybe even the mutt himself. She's the only one even bothering to gather information.

* * *

The break ended pretty quickly, and we were back to the matches. First up was Ami and Kiba.

As soon as the fight began, Ami created some clones, but instead of melting away and going to hide like I would, she went for a straight charge, her clones flanking her.

As she rushed at Kiba, I saw her slowly go through some handseals. She brought up a leg to kick Kiba, who brought up his arms to block. In a puff of smoke, a log crashed into the boy, Ami having substituted out.

I noticed Shikamaru actually begin to focus on the fight when he saw that. There was barely any outward sign of it, though.

"Arrrgh! I won't let you do this again! Come on, Akamaru!" Kiba growled, throwing a pill to his puppy, whose fur turned red upon eating it. My eyes widened. He hadn't used this in our fight.

"Four Legged Technique! Man-Beast Clone!" Akamaru was obscured by smoke, and once it cleared, he was replaced by a feral looking Kiba. The original Kiba's nails and teeth elongated, making him look identical to that clone. I bit my lip.

"Why didn't he use that when he fought me? He might've been able to give me some trouble if he had."

"Kiba-san most likely severely underestimated you. He thought that once he found you, he would easily overpower you in a straightforward fight, and so he did not think about using it." Shino stated. I crossed my arms, pouting.

"That idiot."

* * *

Ami was having trouble. Although it didn't seem Kiba and Akamaru could use those spinning techniques the Inuzuka have, at least not yet, they were clearly much stronger, and faster too, though to a much lesser extent.

It didn't take a genius to tell that Ami was on her last legs from the multitude of minor wounds she'd taken and the chakra usage from substitutions.

To make matters worse, Kiba actually was using his nose this time. Every time Ami tried to confuse him with Transformation or with clones, he was always able to pick her out. Eventually she stopped bothering.

She was on the defensive. But from what I saw with her fight with Ino, if she got one opening, she could capitalize on that and turn things around.

Had there only been one Kiba, that probably would've happened.

Adding Akamaru to the mix made it impossible for Ami to fight against them. It's not like they completely outclassed her. It was simply the addition of a clone of equal strength that could actually take a hit was too much.

Ami lost. She wasn't very happy about it.

* * *

Sasuke-kun versus Choji was next. Sasuke-kun was confident he'd win. He should, if Choji didn't suddenly whip out a hidden jutsu.

The match began slowly. Sasuke-kun wasn't being nearly as aggressive as he was with Shikamaru. I suppose because he knew Shikamaru would never attack him first. He was waiting to see what Choji would do.

For his part, Choji seemed perfectly content to wait until Sasuke-kun made a move. Both of them just looked across the battlefield at one another. After a few moments though, Choji's arm started to enlargen, and once it was big enough, he swung. Sasuke-kun leapt over the punch, skipping off the giant arm and jumping even higher.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!" Sasuke-kun cried, blowing out loads of small fireballs that rained down on Choji, who dodged what he could, and blocked what he couldn't with his arm. Time to practice healing burns, I guess.

Sasuke-kun landed, and now he decided to go on the offensive. While Choji was still distracted by the hail of fire, he went for an attack at his exposed back. But it looked like Choji heard him coming, as he swung behind him, and his hand seemingly slammed into Sasuke-kun.

He dodged it, flipping so his body was parallel to the ground, and caught himself on one of the trees, using chakra to secure himself. All the non-Team 7 rookies gasped, apart from Aya, Shikamaru, and Shino.

Sasuke-kun stood up straight, looking down at Choji, who was looking at him in wonder. Sasuke-kun made an expression then. It was like… a mix between disappointment and irritation. What he was irritated about however, I don't know.

He made some handseals, ending with tiger, clearly preparing another fire technique. "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" he called out, but this time, instead of sending out a fireball, he released a concentrated stream of fire down at Choji, who had no choice but to dodge.

Choji tried to fling shuriken at him, but Sasuke-kun pulled out a kunai with his free hand, deflecting the shuriken away. The stream of fire continued, starting a fire in the clearing. I saw Kakashi-sensei start to get ready to intervene.

Choji had no choice but to retreat, and when he did, Sasuke-kun smirked. And disappeared with a poof of smoke. I immediately turned to Naruto-chan. "You taught him?"

"He really wanted to know. We asked Kakashi-sensei first, and he said it would help him."

I looked at him for a few seconds, before turning back to the fight. "Teach me soon, yeah?"

"Got it, Sakura-chan!"

Choji had retreated straight into a web of wires, and the real Sasuke-kun had tightened them, ensnaring him completely. He must've made the clone right when the fight began, and switched with it to set up the trap.

Sasuke-kun's completely outplayed everyone. His fight with Kiba'll probably go the same way.

* * *

After Sasuke-kun took the time to retrieve all of his wire, which took a while, and Kakashi-sensei used a water jutsu to douse Sasuke-kun's fire, Hinata and Naruto-chan stood, facing each other. Hinata had the hugest blush on her face, as usual when that idiot's involved.

"G-Good luck, Naruto-kun."

"Huh? Oh, uh, good luck too, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan before the match started. And gasped, bringing up a hand to her mouth, and turned, looking straight at… me?

Kakashi-sensei stopped, for a moment. "Is there something wrong, Hinata?"

After a long moment, Hinata slowly shook her head, and turned, facing Naruto-chan once again. Kakashi-sensei looked at her for a while, before starting the match as usual, and then returned to the other senseis, quickly moving into conversation with them.

I shrugged, and focused again on the match. Naruto-chan had already made his clones, and they were charging Hinata, as usual. But although she looked beyond nervous, I saw something in Hinata's eyes harden.

To be honest, I kinda expected her to forfeit immediately, so I was surprised, along with pretty much everyone apart from Aya, Shino, and Shikamaru – did nothing bother those three!? – when Hinata quickly and efficiently took out two of Naruto's clones with well-placed palm strikes.

And then something incredible happened.

 **Lavender Lion  
LV 18  
Hyuga Hinata**

What the _fuck!?_

Hinata fluidly moved from clone to clone, taking down each of them with ease, each only taking a single movement to destroy. In moments, there went from ten Naruto-chans to one. And Hinata didn't let up even then.

She hit him before he – before any of us – could even react. And suddenly took a stance I'd never seen before.

"Eight Trigrams: Thirty Two Palms!" She cried, and sure enough, in the blink of an eye, she hit Naruto-chan thirty two times, in seemingly random places. But I knew how the Gentle Fist worked.

But Hinata wasn't finished. "I can..!" She seemingly grunted, and in a flash, she started moving again, continuing the series of strikes and doubling the number.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!" She shouted with the final hit, and Naruto-chan collapsed to his knees, and then fell down, unconscious. "Naruto-kun!" She cried, going down to check if he was okay, and then-

 **Pale Wallflower  
LV 9  
Hyuga Hinata**

 _What the fuck is going on here!?_

* * *

 **And that's that. Shorter than usual, but I feel that this is the best stopping point. If anyone can figure out both what happened, and why it had the effect it did, props to you. In any case, I'm sure Sakura will figure it out. Eventually.**

 **And as an aside, it's happened before. To Sasuke, specifically. It was quite recent, too.**


	17. Discovery

**Right. I don't normally put these at the beginning of chapters, but I just would like to apologise for the wait. Various events occurred, stopping me from getting this out earlier for you all, and I'm sorry for that. So, I've made this chapter quite a bit longer than normal to try and make up for it. I hope you all understand. Besides, the sooner this tourney is wrapped up, the better.**

* * *

 **This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 15**

 **Discovery**

No one spoke. Everyone seemed shocked by what had just happened, even the senseis. And I had the added benefit of seeing what the fuck was happening to her levels. How had her level doubled like that? And not only that, but it had returned to normal? It couldn't just be a buff she somehow activated, that didn't make any sense. Buffs didn't make me increase in level, even though they significantly increased my stats. Unless…

Did her levels… No, not just hers. Everyone else's levels, did they not work like mine did? It'd explain this… But then, how do they work if they don't work as mine do? I mean, if I assume that this hypothesis is true, then probably everyone else's level is determined by their stats, while mine is the only one determined by experience. But why would it be like that?

"Ahem… Hinata-chan is the winner, then." Kakashi-sensei said, picking up Naruto-chan from where he had fell. "We'll take another short break before we move on. Hinata-chan, could you come with me? Kurenai-sensei wants to talk to you."

"Y-Yes. Will, ah, will Naruto-kun-"

"He'll be fine," Sensei assured her, giving her a smile. "Come on." He said cheerfully, retreating back to the other two senseis. Meanwhile, we rookies were still searching for words to comment on what just happened.

"Well. That was a thing." I said, trying to at least kickstart some form of conversation.

"I think that's the understatement of the year, Sakura," Sasuke-kun stated simply, looking at Shino and Kiba. "Did either of you two know she could do that?"

"No! First time she's ever done something like that. Wish I'd known she could do it sooner, though. I'm lucky she never kicked my ass!"

"As with Kiba-san, I had no knowledge on Hinata-san being capable of such prowess as she just displayed. I am at a loss as to why she would hide these skills, only to reveal them in such a manner… Hinata-san is not the type to lust after public glory, as I'm sure you are all aware." Shino said, laying out his thoughts on the matter. He continued speaking, but I tuned him out, instead looking at Hinata with the sensei.

She seemed to be talking about something quite animatedly, which is strange for her. And… she looked right at me, like she did before the fight with Naruto-chan. She noticed my stare and quickly turned back around, but it was too late. Obviously, whatever they were talking about had to do with me… Probably whatever it was she had gasped about. Maybe… Could she see the Gamer's windows with the Byakugan or something?

Whatever it was, it would have to wait until I could get her alone and ask her about it. Maybe Kakashi-sensei'd tell me if I asked… Nah. Why would they be all secretive if that were the case? It'd be easier to just get it out of Hinata.

* * *

The break ended pretty quickly after Hinata had finished talking with the senseis. Kakashi-sensei said I shouldn't heal Naruto-chan, since the damage inflicted on him wasn't physical and I wasn't trained to unblock the chakra network. I shrugged. He knew more about the Hyuuga's fighting style than I did. The final match was a three-way fight between Sasuke-kun, Kiba, and Hinata.

Sasuke-kun didn't bother asking for information, but I didn't blame him. No one knew anything about Hinata's power boost, except possibly herself, and he'd seen pretty much everything that Kiba had to offer. I wished him good luck, though. He only nodded, but for a moment, I think I saw the ghost of a smile flit across his features.

But it lasted only for a moment, and I shook my head, clearly having been imagining things as he walked off to start his match.

* * *

As soon as the match began, all three of them jumped back. However, the simultaneous retreat lasted only for a second, for as soon as his foot touched the dirt again, Sasuke-kun blazed forwards to meet Kiba.

It was a pretty simple strategy. Hinata was an unknown with what she had just done, and was definitely looking to be the stronger of the two, but if left to his own devices, Kiba could create a clone that was just as strong as he was, and could take as much punishment too. So, he'd take him out before he had a chance to become an annoyance, and then put all his focus on Hinata.

It worked. Kiba was using the respite to prepare one of those pills for Akamaru, so the sudden appearance of Sasuke-kun caught him completely off-guard, and that, coupled with Sasuke-kun's superior skill, even if Kiba probably had the edge purely statistically, put him on the defensive instantly.

However, that didn't mean that Hinata was just going to sit and watch. She came rushing in, Byakugan blazing, a hand raised to strike Sasuke-kun in the back.

He dodged the palm strike, twisting out of the way, but that left him open to an attack by Kiba, which caught him in the chest and caused him to stumble back.

Sasuke-kun grunted, looking at the obvious unspoken alliance between the two members of Team 8. He retreated, flying through handseals. He was, apart from me, the only one of us with any real mid- to long-range techniques, something he showed off when a fireball flew out of his mouth at the two.

They both dodged by leaping upwards, and were met with a brace of shuriken flying their way. They both moved to block or dodge, so when a second set of shuriken bashed into the first, wildly changing the angles of flight, they were caught off-guard, both taking hits.

They touched down, seeing that their time in the air had given Sasuke-kun enough time to make a shadow clone. He looked tired, though, and I doubted he had many jutsu left in him at this point. Just as well he still hadn't used the Sharingan. The chakra drain from that might've sucked him dry completely by this point.

The two pairs regarded each other silently, before a bark from Akamaru sent everyone into motion, Hinata and the clone moving to the right, while Kiba, Akamaru and the original went left. I followed the movement of who I thought was the original, who threw another brace of shuriken at Kiba.

The Inuzuka again got ready to dodge, but kept an eye on Sasuke-kun, wary for the same kind of trick again.

He was right to be wary, but just of the wrong thing. The shuriken went wide, Kiba regarding that with surprise, before grinning at his luck and charging in, while the fingers of Sasuke-kun's left hand twitched.

The shuriken reversed their motion, the ninja wire tied to them pulling them right into Kiba's exposed back. He stumbled forward at the impact, opening his mouth to let out a cry of pain, when Sasuke-kun swiftly punched him in the solar plexus, knocking him out. Nodding, Sasuke-kun turned, moving over to where Hinata was.

* * *

He arrived, seeing his clone locked in a taijutsu struggle with Hinata. Neither had the upper hand. The clone couldn't approach and take risks Sasuke-kun normally would, as a single hit would cause him to pop, while Hinata, true to what the Gamer was telling me, had lost the amazing skill she had shown against Naruto-chan.

However, when the real Sasuke-kun dropped down to deliver a vicious axe kick that Hinata couldn't dodge without taking an equally vicious attack from the clone, for a moment, I saw the same fire in her eyes that she had gained before that fight.

But it faded after an instant, and overwhelmed, Sasuke-kun systematically broke down her defences with the help of his clone, swiftly knocking her out.

Sasuke-kun won the tournament, without even using his Sharingan once. Everyone else probably didn't even know he had unlocked it yet.

* * *

That was it for the day. Kakashi-sensei told us that things like that tourney would now be a regular thing, just to see where we all stood in relative strength, as well as a motivation to anyone who was falling behind to start working their ass off to catch up.

I shrugged. I healed Kiba and Hinata, then it was all over, the various teams scattering off for meetings or to go back to their homes. Hinata ran off before I could talk to her, though.

* * *

At around four in the afternoon that day, there was a knock on the door. I had been doing a bit of training out back, so when my mom lead Kakashi-sensei out to where I was, I was a little surprised.

"Hello, Sakura. Can we talk for a bit?"

"Uh, sure, Sensei."

"Alright. Come with me, then." He said, turning and walking back out of the house. Confused, I just followed him.

* * *

We walked for a while, neither of us saying anything, until my curiosity finally got the better of me.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, where are we going?"

"To the Hokage Tower. Hokage-sama wants to see you about something."

"What about?"

"Nothing bad." He replied, leaving it at that. Now a little nervous, I kept quiet.

We got outside Hokage-sama's office, greeting the secretary outside it. "Hokage-sama called for us." Kakashi-sensei said.

"Yes," The secretary nodded. "Hatake-san and Haruno-san. Please, go in."

"Thanks," Kakashi-sensei smiled at her, before going in, as I followed meekly behind.

As I walked in, I saw Hokage-sama, of course, and three faces that I wasn't expecting. Hinata, her sensei, and an Anbu, this one wearing a rabbit mask.

"What's going on?" I asked, nervously. Hokage-sama smiled at me, trying to calm me down, and it worked. I could see why Naruto-chan called him his grandfather.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Sakura-chan. Please, sit." He said, motioning to the couch where Hinata was already sat. I tentatively moved over, before quickly sitting down.

"Now then, Sakura-chan," the Hokage continued, "You and Hinata-chan were involved in a tournament today between the rookie genin, yes?"

I nodded, him giving me a smile before he spoke again. "Now then, Hinata-chan confided in the two sensei here that she had seen something strange about your chakra system, who then told me about it. Hinata-chan, please describe what you saw."

"U-Um," Hinata stuttered, clearly nervous, everyone in the room's focus on her. "I-It was nothing like any chakra system I've seen before. I couldn't see any tenketsu at all."

There were no c-chakra pathways that I could see. And instead of the chakra being created in the n-navel, and moving through the body from there, i-it seemed to start from your brain."

And your chakra seemed to then form a… l-layer, both under and over your skin, with the layer over your skin l-losing chakra to the air around you all the time, and being constantly replenished. And the chakra inside your body was green, while the chakra outside w-was red. The outer layer a-also got more concentrated around y-your hands."

I blinked. What the hell? I guess the outer chakra layer was due to Talons and Feathers of the Vermillion Bird, which also explained the red colour, but everything else? Was it the Gamer?

I was jolted from my thoughts by the Hokage speaking again. "Rabbit, could you please confirm this?"

Seemingly nothing happened, but after a few moments, the Anbu simply nodded. That was enough for the Hokage, who nodded, dismissing the Anbu.

"Now then, Sakura-chan. Do you have any idea why or how your chakra system is so different?"

I remained silent for a moment, before saying, "I know that the outer layer of chakra is from the taijutsu style I'm learning, the Vermillion Bird of the South."

The Hokage nodded. "Yes, I'm familiar with that style. Do you have any idea why your internal chakra system is how it is?"

I instantly shook my head. "No, Hokage-sama. I'm just as confused about it as you are."

Hokage-sama seemed to ponder that for a moment, before smiling at me. "Well, that's as much as we can do now. Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, you're free to go, although if you ever think of a reason why your chakra is this way, please tell your sensei immediately."

I nodded, bowing to Hokage-sama, and leaving as quickly as I could while still seeming polite.

* * *

The whole thing about my chakra system never really got brought up again. I, of course, tried to figure it out, but I couldn't come up with any reason why it was how it was other than the Gamer, and seeing as how saying that was real without having proof would be incredibly dumb, I kept quiet about it.

* * *

Things mainly progressed as normal, mostly doing training over D-rank missions for the most part. The group training sessions became a biweekly thing, and Aya and Ami's senseis started taking part in them too. Yoshino-sensei hosted them in the Nara compound, and she insisted on having lunch as a group afterward. I certainly wasn't going to complain.

I needled Naruto-chan for a while about the shadow clone technique, but Kakashi-sensei stopped me from learning it. I still didn't have enough chakra to use it safely, according to him.

So while that kinda sucked, I did get some stat gains from the training. Not a level, but I'm close to one.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 12** **  
** **HP: 180/180** **  
** **MP: 96/96** **  
** **STR: 15** **  
** **VIT: 14** **  
** **DEX: 15** **  
** **INT: 58** **  
** **WIS: 33** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 0**

While the boosts were mainly physical, to be honest my mental stats were high enough that I wouldn't expect there to be stat-ups there on anywhere near a regular basis. I had considered changing my training to just have purely physical work, but I hadn't decided on that yet.

* * *

I sighed in contentment from where I was, laying down beside Ami after a spar. In the four weeks since the first group session, pretty much everyone not in Team Seven had been working their asses off, Ami and Ino in particular. Both of them were level 9 now.

But that just brought thoughts back to what I had assumed to be the case with Hinata – that everyone else's levels don't work as mine do. But if that were the case, how did the two of them level up? It'd take a bit of thinking to figure this out.

She looked over at me, a teasing grin on her face. "You alright over there?"

I gave her a deadpan look, calmly saying "I'll beat your ass again if you aren't careful."

She winced. "Okay, got me there. Still, what's got you in a huff?"

"Not in a huff. Pretty much the exact opposite. This is just nice."

She blinked, before looking forward again. "Whatever you say, Sakura-chan."

"What'd you just call me?" I said, sitting up with an incredulous look on my face.

"Huh?" She asked, confused. "I called you Sakura, didn't I?"

"You said Sakura-chan. First time I've heard you call anyone that." Was she blushing? And why does she look so suddenly frightened?

"Shit, I'm sorry, it was a mistake."

"You don't need to apologise for it. It was just a surprise, is all. Don't think anything of it." I stated, now intrigued as to why she seemed so horrified.

"Um, yeah. Sorry. Just said it without thinking. Should've asked first."

"Nah, it's whatever. Why do you seem to think it's such a big deal, though?"

"Oh, I… Um, you can really insult people by being too familiar, y'know? I was scared that you might not want to be my friend anymore, or something."

"Really? You think I'd stop being friends with you over something like that? You should know me better than that, Bear-chan." I said, settling back into the lying down position, while Ami-chan let out a sigh of relief. That was such a dumb thing to worry about. I'm not that petty, am I?

* * *

Ino and I finally reconciled after the next group session, something I was quite happy about. To be honest, I wasn't all that interested in Sasuke-kun anymore. I decided I liked him more as a friend, same with Naruto-chan – actually, since I'm not going after Sasuke-kun anymore, he can be Naruto-kun now – but to be honest, I don't think it would've mattered.

* * *

A week or so after that, we had a bigger meet up planned. I was gonna convince the boys and Ami to come – and to get Ino into Sasuke-kun's good books as much as possible – while Ino was gonna get her team and Aya involved, and Hinata too if she could.

Speaking of Aya, once I became friends with Ino again, she was almost immediately less… hostile, I guess, towards me. She wasn't a friend I'd say, but she was closer than before, so I guess that's progress.

* * *

I honestly have no idea how I managed to convince Sasuke-kun that this was a good idea. From the looks he was giving me, from where Ino was borderline molesting him over the table, I'm sure he was thinking the same thing.

Meanwhile, Aya and Choji were off talking privately – I wonder if she confessed – and I'm pretty sure Hinata just fainted, judging by Naruto-kun's seeming panic, and Shikamaru, Ami-chan and I, along with the rest of the restaurant, just sat there, watching the bedlam in front of us.

Thank god this is an Akimichi restaurant. I mean, Choji's probably gonna have a lot of chores to pay for the broken crockery, but at least it'd probably be at a reduced price.

* * *

 **And that's that. As I said above, sorry for the wait, but at least it's here now. Oh, and as you read, quite a lot of time passed in this chapter, so some of you might be asking where the Chunin Exams are. For anyone waiting for those, you're going to be waiting quite a lot longer. I'm planning on two more arcs before they happen. I want to get as much out of Part I as possible.**


	18. Worries

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 16**

 **Worries**

Well, at least something good came out of that ridiculous meeting. That being Aya and Choji were dating now. Good, I was happy for them. Aya had been crushing on him since the academy. Now the only thing I have left to do to get Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun together with Hinata and Ino. Naruto-kun would be easy, Sasuke-kun… less so.

But that isn't really important right now. Considering we were on our way to a mission, our first one in a while. I assumed it'd be a C-rank, considering how long it'd been, and I was right.

The mission itself was rather simple. A small village had been having troubles with an outside force that seemed to be a group of organised bandits.

But no matter what the mission actually was, it was rather unusual.

The village itself was much closer to the Hidden Valley village than us, being as the village was located in the Land of Rivers, rather than the Land of Fire.

Not only that, but the village itself was close enough to Hidden Valley that any issues with it should've been picked up by routine patrols by the Valley nin.

But obviously, that wasn't the case.

Kakashi-sensei picked up on this, obviously, and told us all to be on our guard. There was probably something much bigger going on here, and we'd have to figure out what.

I wondered why we had been picked for this mission, if something big could be happening under the surface. But then I realised something – no matter what _could_ be happening, it was a C-rank. Hokage-sama couldn't afford to send stronger forces on a hunch.

But he could send us, and by association, Kakashi-sensei. We could do the mission, and he could figure out what, if anything, was going on.

I kept that all to myself. I think Kakashi-sensei realised. I don't think the boys really put that much thought into it. To them, it was a mission, and that was that.

* * *

We arrived in the village a day later. Although this time we had no one to escort, it was in an entirely different country, after all.

The village itself was pretty much as expected. In the hicks, podunk. The locals stared at us, since we were obviously foreigners. It made me a little uncomfortable, but everyone else took it in stride.

There was a little wooden stage in the middle of the village, which was for performances, I guess. There was a small moat around the thing, with some stairs leading up to it.

Kakashi-sensei stopped us for a moment, looking around, before quietly saying, "Let me do all the talking." With that, we moved on, to the mayor's house.

* * *

Instantly, I could tell something was wrong. The mayor's style of dress was completely different from everyone else's. He was wearing a tailored suit. Compared to the ragged-looking clothes worn by the farmhands outside, it was a startling contrast. I could tell Kakashi-sensei felt the same.

"Oh, hello!" the mayor said, looking up from his desk. I gazed at him, Observing.

 **The Chief  
LV 7  
Fukuroda Kirishima**

That was… a disturbingly high level for a civilian.

"You are the ninja I paid for, yes?" Fukuroda asked.

"Yes, we are. You are Fukuroda-san, yes?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Please, come through!" He said, standing up and beckoning us through into the main part of the building. Kakashi-sensei looked as, before we all followed him through.

"Please, sit!" He said, gesturing to the sofa in his living room. Naruto-kun sat, but after seeing us all remain standing, he quickly stood up again. Fukuroda laughed to himself at this, quickly excusing himself, and returning with a tray with four cups.

"Would any of you like something to drink?" He asked. Before any of us could even think about it, Kakashi-sensei's eye flicked towards us, completely serious. The message was clear. _Don't._

Yeah, I was right. Kakashi-sensei thought something was wrong, too.

"That's quite alright, Fukuroda-san. We ate on the way. Now then, if we could learn more about the mission..?"

"Oh, yes, of course! Well, it's pretty simple. To put it simply, there's a bandit force that has been attacking the village. We don't know where they are camped. We'd like you to find them and defeat the group."

"Alright. Is there any information on their whereabouts?"

"Unfortunately not. We're a poor village of farmers, we have no one skilled enough to track these men." I raised an eyebrow at this. I would've spoken up had Kakashi-sensei told us not to. As it is, I just wondered if he thought we were all idiots.

* * *

We got nothing else helpful from Fukuroda. Sensei didn't even accept accommodation, saying we'd find our own. Something was seriously wrong with this village.

* * *

We quickly left the village, making sure we were far enough away that no civilian could've followed us, or heard us, before Kakashi-sensei spoke up. "I'm sure you've all noticed that this village is… off."

We all nodded.

"So, we have two missions. One, to complete the original mission, provided that they aren't faking the bandit attacks," Sensei paused for a second, before continuing. "And two, to find out just what is wrong with this village."

"To that end, I brought these." He brought out the small radios that we had used to track down and capture Tora on multiple occasions. That cat was mean

"I needed to train you at least somewhat in surveillance anyway, and this is a good opportunity. We'll split up, and gather information. You can do it discreetly or openly, as long as you get results. Naruto, Sasuke, avoid using clones unless you're sure people won't see them. The less questions asked, the better."

We all nodded again, and I spoke up. "What exactly are we looking for, sensei?"

"Anything that seems out of place, essentially. And report back everything. The most minor detail could be vital."

"We'll spend a few days solely doing this, then split our attention towards this and our on-paper mission, since if we haven't found anything by then, there likely is nothing, or it's exceptionally well hidden."

We all nodded, and after setting up the equipment, all four of us disappeared.

* * *

"So, how often do these bandits attack?" I asked the old shopkeep, Observing her as I did.

 **Still Lethal  
LV 6  
Kitora Yuika**

 _Another_ random person with a deceptively high level. None of their levels have been above eight, thankfully, but when that's as strong as Ami was a few weeks ago, that sets off alarm bells.

"Oh, prob'ly once every week or so. They've ben a real nuisance."

"What have they been taking? Or at least trying to take?"

At this, Kitora got angry. "They've ben stealin' our food! An' I heard they're tryin' to take our girls, too!"

"I see. Well, we'll stop them soon as we can. I was just wondering, though," I said, looking her in the eye, trying to gauge her reaction. "Why did you send the mission to the Leaf, instead of Valley?"

Her eyes sharpened, and dulled again instantly. I'm unsure if she even noticed it herself. "Well, you Leaf ninja folk are a sight better than the lot here. I mean, I don't know a lot about the magic you use, but everyone everywhere says that Leaf is the best in the world."

"Oh, thank you for the compliment. I'd probably best be going now, though. I've got ninja business to take care of. It was nice meeting you!"

"Give them bandits a hidin' from Yuika!" I laughed, waving at the woman and leaving her shop, my mouth instantly setting into a line as I turned away. "Nothing special here, either…"

* * *

My first day of investigation was a complete bust. I didn't get any info other than how regular the attacks were, everyone I asked saying pretty much the same thing. Naruto-kun's day went pretty much the same way.

Sasuke-kun actually found something, though. He lead us to a house on the village outskirts. Not only was it seemingly abandoned, it was also nicer than every other house in the village other than the mayor's.

He lead us inside, using an E-rank fire jutsu to cast away the shadows formed from the dusky light. He went upstairs to the first floor, all of us following him. "Look at this." He said, pointing at the floorboards.

"I can't see anything." I said, confused, but Kakashi-sensei looked closely.

"I see." He said, dropping into a squat and pointing at a patch of slightly different coloured wood. "That discolouration shows someone tried to get in there, most likely by trying to use fire. And,"

He paused, rapping against the floorboards as he did. "That's hollow. There's definitely something in there." He placed his palm against the floor, waiting for a second, but nothing happened.

"Brute force, then." He seemingly said to himself, as lightning sparked up around his fist, and he thrust it into and through the floorboards. That was a cool technique.

He pulled his hand out of the hole, then gripped each side of it and simply ripped it open with ease, and beckoned us over to look inside.

"It's a weapon stockpile." I said, shocked.

"Not just that. It's a _ninja_ weapon stockpile." Sasuke-kun added. "Look, most of it is kunai and shuriken, and there are ninjato and ninja wire in there as well."

Kakashi-sensei looked grim. "This doesn't bode well. We might have to call this mission a bust."

"Huh? Why?" Naruto-kun asked.

"Because if there are actual trained ninja in this village, we probably won't be able to handle it. I don't think any of them would be even on the level of those chunin you fought, but the sheer number would wear us down."

"How do you know there's a lot of ninja, sensei?" I asked.

"This is a stockpile that has enough weapons for an entire clan. The Uchiha weapons stock is smaller than this." Sasuke-kun said.

"New plan. No more open investigation. Be discrete as possible. If you think you've been found out, let the rest of the team know _immediately_. Got it?"

"Yes, sensei!"

"Good." He looked around, before nodding. "We'll sleep here tonight. Sakura, take first watch. Naruto, you're next, then Sasuke, then me."

We nodded, all going to find somewhere to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Kakashi-sensei confronted me. "Sakura, why didn't you wake any of us up for watch?"

I sighed, and answered truthfully. "I don't need to sleep. It's in our best interest that you guys are all fully rested, so I just took watch the whole night."

"You don't need to sleep?"

"I think it's because of-"

"I see. Well, still. You might not need to sleep, but it's likely better for you than sitting at watch for hours on end. In the future, watch rotates as normal."

"Yes, sensei."

* * *

We split up again for our investigations. I spent a bit of time walking around the village, looking for good vantage points in preparation, when I heard two older men talking.

"Bah! Why'd Kirishima call in them ninja folk? They cannae help us!"

"I don't know, Sanji. We can-"

"No! We dinnae need them! Rinka-sama's more than enough!"

"But we can't risk her! What if she were killed, or captured? No, Kirishima was right. Having the ninja fight instead means she's safe."

"…I suppose you're right, Kazu."

"Speaking of Rinka-sama, shouldn't the ritual be happening now?"

"Ah, you're right! We cannae miss that!"

At that, the men got up, rushing towards the centre of the village. They were just another pair of hicks that didn't realise what ninja could really do.

…That being said, that was some actual new information. And not only that, but this Rinka was having a ritual? I assumed it was on the stage I had seen earlier. After all, the men were headed in that direction. Nodding to myself, I jumped up to the roof of a house and moved to the stage.

* * *

Was the entire village here? It sure seemed like it. I guess this wasn't a regular occurrence. I could see a girl standing upon the stage, that I assumed was Rinka. She looked about 14.

She was wearing traditional miko garb; a long, red, slightly pleated skirt tied with a bow, a white haori, and some white hair ribbons. She had long chestnut brown hair currently tied into a ponytail, and from what I could see, her eyes were pink. But she didn't look happy. Far from it, in fact.

After a few moments, she began moving, going into a traditional dance. I would've left if that was it, but as her movements became more frantic, water from the moat began moving up around her, following her movements.

Now I was intrigued. Looking closely, I could see streams of water just following the movements of her hands, enhancing the beauty of her dance. It looked like a simple water jutsu. But the crowd was definitely entertained.

I was too far away and her movements were too fast for me to make out any handseals she may have made, so I don't know if it was something that came naturally for her, or a jutsu. But she enthralled me. I was watching the dance with bated breath.

And then, her speed peaked, and in a sudden climax, she threw both her hands to the sky.

And four trees sprouted from the ground, twisting around her until they met a single point above her hands in the sky, and my heart skipped a beat, as I instantly Observed her.

With shaky hands, I activated my transmitter, eyes still glued to the scene in front of me. "Guys? There's something important I need to tell you."

"What is it, Sakura?" Kakashi-sensei asked, all business.

"Well, uh,"

 **The Priestess of Nature  
LV 10  
Senju Rinka**

"They've got a Senju here."

* * *

 **Bet you weren't expecting that one, huh?**


	19. Retrieval

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 18**

 **Retrieval**

"A Senju? Are you sure, Sakura?"

"Well, considering that I just saw her use Wood Release, I'm pretty fucking sure!" I frantically said, my eyes staying trained on Rinka as the crowd let out an uproar of cheering and clapping.

"She used Wood Release?!" Kakashi-sensei exclaimed, pausing and then continuing after a few moments, voice more serious than I had ever heard it before. "I'm sending word back to the village. This changes everything."

"Our mission here is over. We have something much more important to do, something that could be considered S-rank. We're bringing that Senju back with us."

"But what about the bandits-" Naruto-kun started, before being cut off.

"This is _far_ more important than some bandit raid, Naruto. Finding a surviving Senju, and one with Wood Release at that? She needs to be brought back to the village _yesterday._ It's a miracle that Valley or any other village haven't found her yet."

"Sakura, can you speak to her?"

"I can try."

"Good. Try and befriend her, get her to come around to the idea of coming back with us. It'll make our job much easier if she's willing. Regardless of if you can pull it off, however, she _will_ be coming with us. We'll be leaving tomorrow night."

"I'll do my best, sensei."

"Good girl." The transmission ended. Sasuke-kun hadn't said a word the whole time. Was he angry about finding a Senju or something like that?

* * *

I watched the proceedings carefully. The mayor – Fukuroda – walked up to Rinka, grabbing her hand and raising it up, to the approval of the crowd. She looked uncomfortable.

The trees slowly faded from the stage, leaving it as pristine as it had been before, other than the puddles of water left behind by her water manipulation. The mayor was mouthing off about something, seeming to rile up the crowd, but Rinka just kept that uncomfortable look on her face. At some point, it just morphed into displeasure.

Eventually, though, Fukuroda's speech ended, and the crowd began to fade. Rinka and Fukuroda were left alone on the stage. Fukuroda whispered something in Rinka's ear, and she recoiled but didn't respond in any other way. He let go of her hand and left her standing there. I took that as my chance.

I got as close as I could on the roofs, before dropping down in front of her. She flinched in shock, but after that initial moment of shock, she regarded me with confusion.

I looked at her in return. She was quite pretty. Like Hinata and Ino, she had that… princess look about her. But she wasn't doll-like, like Hinata, or someone who cared about her looks above all else, like Ino.

She was pretty in a more… rugged way than most people our age were. She was tanned, and from what I could see from her hands, they actually had quite a few callouses, suggesting that she joined everyone in farming.

But her hair had the same silky smooth look to it that I associated with Ino, and her clothes, like Fukuroda's, were of a much higher quality than everyone else's, both in material and condition.

I took this all in as my gaze drifted up her body to her eyes, where I saw that my guess was right; she had pink eyes. She had pupils, though, unlike that Rock kunoichi.

She blinked, then spoke.

"Who… are you?"

I smiled. "Haruno Sakura, genin of the Hidden Leaf. And you are?"

"Uh… Rinka. You're… you're the ninja that Kirishima-sama hired? But you're younger than I am…" She said. It's not like it wasn't obvious, what with her being half a head taller than me.

"Well, it's not like they just sent me. I'm here with my team, of course. But yeah, we start pretty young." I paused to let that sink in for a moment before I continued, determined to make our new new mission as easy as possible.

"I saw your performance thing. It was pretty cool!" There's the hook.

"You were watching?" She asked, surprised, before her eyes narrowed a bit. "Shouldn't you be finding out where the bandits are?"

I chuckled, thinking of a response. She was sharp for a civilian. If she even was one. Did Wood Release come instinctively even if you don't have formal training?

"We have no information to go off of, and we aren't a tracking-oriented team. Sensei's out looking for anywhere the bandits might be, so, for now, we're basically on leave until he finds something or they attack again."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense, actually." She said, her interrogative expression melting away back into a neutral one. "Well, uh, I'm glad you liked the dance. I've spent a long time practicing."

"I could tell! Especially with those water jutsu you used! And that tree jutsu was amazing too! I've never seen anything like it." And there's the bait.

"Jutsu? What's that?" Uh. Okay then.

I blinked, looking at her. "You don't know? But how did you make those trees grow? And make the water follow your hands?"

She shrugged. "I've known how to make stuff grow like that for as long as I can remember. And Kirishima-sama taught me how to control water like that. All I have to do is make some weird shapes with my hands and it just happens."

So… Fukuroda at least has ninja training. Not very _good_ training, considering his level, but still. Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun were right, there are trained ninja here.

"Oh, that's a jutsu then. Those weird shapes are called handseals!"

"Handseals?"

"Yup! Watch this." I put my hands into a string of random handseals, faking the fact that I needed them, ending on the Tiger seal, prepared to use one of my techniques. A thought came to me, however, so I inhaled, raising my face skyward.

And then I exhaled, shooting out a plume of flames upwards, where they dispersed into the clouds. Idly, I also realised that'd probably alert sensei and the boys to where I was.

 **A skill has been created through a special action! Through the combination of flame mana and exhalation, the skill 'Flamethrower' has been created!**

Ooh, nice.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed in surprise, taking a step back. I looked back at her and grinned.

"That's just one of the jutsu I know. I know lots of others, too!"

"That was… pretty cool. Can you teach me some?"

I gave her a sad look. "Sorry, I don't think I'm allowed. They're meant to be secret and stuff." I acted like I had a flash of inspiration, and grinned at her. "I know! If you come back to the village with us, we can ask if you can become a ninja! Then you can learn all the jutsu you want!"

"Wow, really? Then I want to go with you guys!" She happily exclaimed, before visibly deflating. "…But I can't. Kirishima-sama won't let me leave. If I'm not here to do the fertility ritual – that dance you just saw – then the village might starve."

I snorted. "Fertility ritual? I don't think that exists. I think he wants you here for something else." I said, and she looked away. For a moment, I cast away the bubbly persona I had taken on to try and befriend this girl to ask a serious question. I think we'd get along regardless anyway.

"I saw you two together, and I saw how you reacted. What did he say to you?" I calmly asked, trying to gently probe for information.

She let out a heavy sigh. "I don't think I can-"

"I'm a ninja, Rinka. Our job is to protect the people. You're part of those people, regardless of if you live in Fire Country or not. You can tell me. I can promise not to tell anyone else if that's the deal breaker."

"You… promise you won't say anything?"

"Yep! I promise."

"Well, um…" She sighed again, before looking me in the eye and continuing. "He told me that 'the plan' won't work without me, and how he… needs me. He said that since he took me in, it's only fair that I repay him. He wasn't really clear about what he meant, but it just creeped me out."

Thank god for your innocence, Rinka.

"That fucking pig!" I angrily exclaimed, looking in the direction of his house as I clenched my fists, already feeling flames starting to form in my palms.

"S-Sakura, what's wrong?" I ignored her for a moment, while I calmed myself down. Clearly from the way she'd described it, nothing had happened. Yet. I'm quite happy we're taking her back to the Leaf. Forget enemy ninja finding her, she's just not going to get raped by someone she probably thinks of as a father there!

I let out a shaky breath and forced a smile. "Nothing, Rinka. Everything's fine. But, uh, everyone has to leave the nest at some point. You're just choosing to do it now. He can't control you forever."

"Yeah, that's true…"

"It'll be okay. Why don't you ask him and tell me what he says?"

"Okay, I'll do that. Thanks, Sakura." She gave a smile, the first one I'd seen on her since I saw her on that platform. And it was so genuine that I couldn't help but smile in return.

"Good luck! I wanna introduce you to all my friends when we go back to the Leaf!"

Man, I'm never gonna do infiltration missions. There's no way I'm not gonna get attached.

* * *

The rest of that day was uneventful. By the time we had met up back in the abandoned house, Kakashi-sensei had already sent word back to the village, and even received a response.

"Sakura, how did it go with the Senju?"

"Excellently. And her name is Rinka, sensei."

Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow at the second statement. I could tell that he'd already figured out that the friendship beginning to form between Rinka and I was mutual. But instead of getting angry and chewing me out, like I expected, he actually smiled and mussed up my hair.

"Good work, Sakura."

I batted his hand away, blushing. "That's embarrassing, sensei."

"Alright, all of you," Kakashi-sensei said, back to business. "Change of plans once again. Hokage-sama's sending out a chunin team instead of another genin cell to take over our investigation. They'll be here faster than expected because of that, so we'll be leaving tomorrow morning, instead of the night."

"Sakura, you'll need to get your friend ready to leave. Tell her not to worry about leaving belongings behind if they can be replaced, the village will take care of that."

"Got it, sensei."

"Naruto, Sasuke, I want you two to distract Fukuroda-san. I doubt he'll take very well to seeing the key to his 'plan' being taken from the village by us."

"Can we use shadow clones?" Sasuke-kun asked.

"Of course, anything goes."

"What are you going to do, sensei?"

"Demolishing this house. I've already checked it for anything else incriminating, and all that information has been relayed to the other team. I'm removing it both to destroy the weapons and to remove evidence we were here."

"Why do we have to remove evidence we were here?" Naruto-kun asked.

"This is technically Valley's jurisdiction. If they find out we were here, they could use that as an excuse to say that we were trying to invade and go and start a war. We'd crush them if they tried anything of the sort of course, but I'd rather remove the possibility entirely."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense." Naruto-kun said.

"Is everyone clear?" After waiting for us all to nod, Kakashi-sensei nodded himself. "Then get some sleep. Watch is the reverse rotation from yesterday. We've got a big day ahead of us."

* * *

 **And that's that. Is Rinka's extraction going to go as planned? Who knows.**


	20. Escape

**Hey, everyone. Don't normally do these at the beginning of the chapter, but there was a guest review I really wanted to address, and I'd rather do it here than at the end.**

 **So, first off, the paragraph about ninjas being despicable – what's your point? They can make the village stronger this way, so obviously they're going to take the chance. No matter how the source material might show them, by definition ninja are not good people. I intend to show that.**

 **Then the second paragraph. All I'm going to say is that this is necessary. That's it.**

 **And the final statement. Yeah, you're completely correct. I'm not disputing that, but remember Sakura is a rookie genin. She's only been a ninja for about three months at this point. The fact of the matter is that when she comes of age, Rinka's essentially breeding stock. The only difference between the Leaf and say, Cloud, is that they're at least going to let her live her life despite that.**

 **One thing that I've always intended from the first word of this story is to make the world realistic. Not in the sense of the feats accomplishable, but rather that in the end, this is a ninja world, and even their version of a paragon would be equivalent to the lowest of the low in our world. The truth about what will inevitably happen to Rinka is simply a facet of that.**

 **The fact is, the main character is a child. A child trained to kill, yes, but a child. She simply hasn't realised yet what kind of world she really lives in.**

 **Now then. On to the story.**

 **This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 18**

 **Escape**

* * *

The next morning, I went to check on Rinka, while everyone else started to get ready to leave. I couldn't find her anywhere outside, so I went back to the rooftops of the village, moving to the mayor's house and going to check the windows on the second floor.

The first room I looked into must've been the mayor's own. It was incredibly extravagant for a village like this one, which would be another red flag if that was still our main concern. Which it wasn't. I merely noted it was vacant, and moved to the next room.

I got RInka's room on the second window. She was in there, seemingly doing nothing except sitting on her bed. I noted that she wasn't wearing her miko outfit from the day before, rather simply an extravagant kimono instead.

Without warning, I let myself into her room, her eyes flicking towards me at the sound of the window opening. As she recognised me, she began to smile, but it faded quickly.

"Hey." I said happily, hopping through into her room.

"Hi, Sakura." She replied quietly.

"I'm guessing things didn't go well with Fukuroda-dono, huh?"

"Yeah… he said that I can't come with you. I'm needed here."

"Well, to be perfectly honest with you," I started, walking over to her and sitting myself down next to her, "My team and I don't particularly care what he has to say about it. It's not his life, so it's not his decision is the way I see it. I only care if you want to go or not."

She looked away before she responded. "Well… I do have a lot of duties here, and I'm not sure how easily they could find someone to take my place-"

"Rinka, that's not what I'm asking. I don't want to know why you _shouldn't_ go, I want to know if despite that, you still want to."

She was silent for a minute. I opened my mouth to try and continue convincing her, but she cut me off, looking me in the eyes. "Yeah. I wanna come with you all."

I smiled. "Great! Then lemme help you pack. We're leaving soon."

"What about the mission?"

"My team's needed at home," I swiftly lied, "so they're sending in replacements so we can head back."

"Oh, okay… I have a lot of stuff, though."

"Yeah, you can't bring all of it, unfortunately. Bring everything important that you can't have replaced. We'll take care of everything else when we get home."

"But what about clothes and stuff?"

"Don't worry about it. The village is gonna treat you like a princess, I know it. You'll be taken care of until you can take care of yourself."

"Why would they do that?"

"Tell you later. Come on," I said, standing up. "Let's get a move on. We don't have much time."

"Right!" Giving her a smile as she smiled at me, I turned away, turning on the radio transmitter.

"She's fully convinced now. I'm helping her pack."

" _Right."_ Kakashi-sensei responded. _"Naruto, Sasuke, it's up to you two now."_

" _Sakura, how much time do you need?"_ Sasuke-kun asked.

"Thirty minutes should be fine."

" _You heard her, Naruto. Don't forget."_

" _Hey, you just remember to do your part! I'm not gonna forget!"_ Naruto-kun exclaimed in his defence.

" _Alright, thirty minutes it is. Don't be late."_

" _Shouldn't we be saying that to you?"_ Naruto-kun got a bit wittier at some point.

"See you then." I turned off my transmitter, turning around to see Rinka looking at me. I had made sure to be quiet, so she likely hadn't heard any of what I had said, and certainly didn't hear anyone else.

"I was just talking to my team, seeing how much time we have till we leave. We've only got thirty minutes, so we've gotta pack fast!"

"Oh, right! Yeah!" She said, and the two of us began to do just that.

* * *

Rinka slipped on the backpack that she had put all her irreplaceable, sentimental possessions in, and took a look at the room, seeing how full of stuff it still was. "I never really realised I didn't _need_ this stuff until now. What's the point of even getting it all?"

"Just because you don't need it doesn't mean there's no point to it." I said simply. "Come on, we need to get moving. Get on my back, I can carry you."

She looked at me doubtfully, but complied, and when she saw how easily I lifted her up into a piggyback, she deigned not to comment on my strength compared to my outward appearance. I stepped onto the windowsill, looking back at her. "Hold on tight." I stated, grinning, and then I took off for the entrance of the village.

It wasn't at max speed, of course. I would be in danger of hurting her pretty severely if I did that. But it was still much faster than anything she had ever experienced. She didn't even really have time to process it, though, as I stopped on a roof.

A huge amount of chakra was being gathered near the southern gate. Although we were headed to the western gate, it was such an absurd amount of chakra that I could clearly piece out its general direction.

I wondered for a moment just what was going on, until the chakra disappeared, and in a huge plume of smoke, a group of bandits appeared outside of the southern village entrance. Thankfully, since she has no real training, I don't think Rinka could sense the chakra, or enhance her vision enough to see the bandits from her. If she could, I don't think I could answer her inevitable questions.

Vaguely, I realised this must be the distraction, and the chakra was probably Naruto-kun gathering the energy to create enough clones to form the bandit horde. I wondered how much chakra he had available to do this, if Kakashi-sensei didn't think I had enough for one yet.

It was then Irealised that Rinka had been asking why we had stopped, and I shook out the cobwebs, saying, "Sorry, got a bit distracted by something. Don't let go, we're moving again now." With that, we began our quick journey to the western gate, while I could vaguely hear and see the villages beneath us panicking about the bandits.

* * *

We were the first to arrive, besides Kakashi-sensei. Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun quickly joined us, though, and as soon as they did, we left again. We travelled without stopping, until we were well into the Land of Fire, and we reached a marked clearing.

"Right." Kakashi-sensei said. "We're stopping here for now, until the team that's replacing us arrives and we can fill them in on exactly what we've learned. After that, we'll be heading to the village. This is going to be the only break, so use it wisely."

Hearing that, I woke Rinka up from where she had fallen asleep on my back. She seemed surprised at how far we'd gone, and Sasuke-kun left the clearing while Naruto-kun quickly talked to Kakashi-sensei.

"We're waiting for the new team to come here so we can tell them stuff we learned on the mission. When that's done, the next stop's the village."

"Oh, okay. Umm…"

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well, can you introduce me to your teammates? I didn't really get a chance to do it before."

"Oh, yeah, of course." I replied, bringing her over to Naruto-kun, his chat already over. "Naruto-kun, this is Rinka. Rinka, Naruto-kun."

"Nice to meet you, Naruto."

"Nice to meet you too, Rinka-chan!" He grinned, putting his hands behind his head. He went to continue, but I pulled her away, taking her to Kakashi-sensei.

"Rinka, this is my sensei, Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi-sensei smiled at her. "It's a pleasure."

She was caught a little off-guard, blushing before she simply said, "You too," in a subdued voice.

Not paying attention to this, however, I then brought her to Sasuke-kun, who was just re-entering the clearing from whatever he had left to do. "Rinka, Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun-"

"I know who she is." Sasuke-kun interrupted me, his voice cold. The coldest I'd heard it since our team introduction, in fact. What was up with him?

Rinka was understandably confused, but to her credit, she took it in stride. "Um, okay. Nice to meet you?"

"I wish I could say the same about you, Senju." Inwardly, I slapped a palm to my head. OF course that was it. The Senju and Uchiha had always had a rivalry, and if nothing else, Sasuke-kun had immense pride in his clan. How had I not realised that before?

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" She angrily asked. Huh, that was quick. I think she might have a temper.

"Exactly what I said."

"What's your problem with my family?"

"Simple. I'm an Uchiha."

"What's an Uchiha?"

"…It doesn't matter. I have nothing more to say to you, _Senju_."

"Yeah, well, you're an asshole, _Uchiha_."

"Hmph."

"Hmph!" The two of them turned away, Sasuke-kun with an expressionless face, while Rinka was clearly fuming. I would've stepped in to try and diffuse some of the tension between the two of them, had the replacement team not come into the clearing at that very moment.

Sighing, I turned around. I can deal with them back in the Leaf.

* * *

We made it back to the village late that night. Rinka had stayed up this time, taking in the sights as she travelled on my back. She was pretty excited by the time we actually reached the village. Kakashi-sensei stopped us, however.

"Rinka, you have to go in for processing." Seeing the frightened glance she gave me, before she could panic anymore he added, "Don't worry about a thing. Everyone has to go through it before they enter the village, it's just a safety procedure. It'll take a day at most, and then you'll be free."

Even still, she gave me another glance, and as I smiled and started to reassure her, I felt a little touched that she already trusted me to this extent. "You'll be fine. And I'll be waiting for you when you get out, okay? Don't worry."

"…Okay then." She said, slowly going to follow the chunin that was going to take her to where the visitor processing took place. She took one last glance back for she went through the door, and I simply smiled at her as the door closed. I hope that was enough for her to feel safe.

Once she had gone, Kakashi-sensei went up to the otherchunin at the gate, simply saying, "Tell Hokage-sama that she's the Senju we found." Thechunin slowly nodded, and then let us all in.

* * *

We had a quick debriefing. All it was was telling Hokage-sama about Rinka, and him telling us that Rinka's retrieval would count as an A-rank mission in our records, and we'd be paid accordingly. I scratched my head. Somehow, we had no C-ranks, but two A-ranks. It was a little ridiculous, honestly.

* * *

True to my word, I waited all day for Rinka to get out of processing. She got out in the middle of the afternoon, and gave me a hug as she saw me, which I of course returned. I took the chance then to introduce her to Ami-chan and Ino, who then went and introduced her to Shikamaru, Choji, and Aya.

She got on really well with Ami, and surprisingly, Aya. It wasn't all that blatant, but by the end of the day, if Aya wasn't with Choji, she was with Rinka. In the span of a day, she'd managed to get her to open up more than even Ino had. It was pretty amazing to watch.

* * *

 **The extraction went fine. It always was going to. If you're wondering why it went off without a hitch or why no one asked where the Leaf nin were, that was Sasuke's bit in the distraction – he made a team of clones that fought against Naruto's bandit clones. Oh, and because of it, both of them now know about the memory transfer of the shadow clones, too. I wonder if that's going to have any importance.**

 **Anyway, that's it for now. See you all later, hopefully.**


	21. Relax

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Relax**

* * *

I spent a lot of time in the next week just hanging out with Rinka, Ami-chan, Ino and Aya when she felt like it. It was fun, and it was something that I hadn't really done since graduation. I'm honestly glad I just took a break like that.

* * *

Once I began training again, I noticed something. I called up a Magic Bullet, looking closely at it. I realised that it most certainly was bigger than it had used to be. Before, the cube hadn't even been as wide as my palm. Now it was wider than the width of my hand with all my fingers extended outwards as far as they could go.

Curious, as I hadn't really used it offensively in a while, I fired it at a nearby tree. It exploded on impact, leaving a sizable crater in the thing. But… I didn't like that.

Before, when it had been smaller, the bullets hadn't exploded on impact, they'd pierced through things. They'd only explode if whatever they hit was too dense and they ran out of energy trying to drill through. That was much more useful, in my opinion. If I want explosions, I've got Fireball.

I summoned up another Bullet, looking at it, thinking about how I could make it so it pierced again. My initial idea of just condensing it so it was smaller worked to an extent, but it took time to do, which I worried I wouldn't have in an important fight.

An idea came to me, however. I made another Bullet, and split it along three lines, essentially cutting it down to 8 smaller, identical cubes. Looking at the 8 separate cubes now floating above my hands, I knew I was on to something. I fired them at a tree next to the one I had tested out the original Magic Bullet on.

On inspection, I could see 8 square holes going right through the tree trunk. I smiled.

* * *

Although I had that shiny new Flamethrower skill to train, I decided for the most part to put my Fire element training on hold for now. After all, Sasuke-kun kinda already filled that niche. Instead, I decided it'd probably be a good idea to start training my Earth nature instead.

Only problem was that Earth didn't really lend itself all that well to being manipulated in the way I manipulated a Magic Bullet, or a Fireball. I didn't have any techniques I could modify to create an Earth skill, so I had to do this the old fashioned way.

I asked Kakashi-sensei for an Earth jutsu, and surprisingly, he said he'd teach me two, maybe even three, if I helped him out with something. I of course agreed.

* * *

"Alright, Sakura. Tell me if you feel any different." Kakashi-sensei stated, before placing something on my back. I waited for a bit, before shaking my head.

"Nothing?"

"I'm just wondering what you put on my back, Sensei."

"Could you use a jutsu for me?"

"Sure." Holding out my hand, I created a Magic Bullet. "Is that good enough?"

"Yes, thank you." He took whatever it was off of my back, and I turned, facing him.

"So, what was that about?" I asked politely.

"That was a chakra restriction seal. I was using it to test a hypothesis about your chakra system."

I recalled the conversation in Hokage-sama's office about that. Nodding, I said, "Okay, so what was the hypothesis?"

"Well, due to your chakra system having a completely different source and no traditional pathways, we – that is, Hokage-sama, our primary chakra researcher, Hyuuga Konoe-san and I – entertained the idea that you don't have tenketsu, or if you do, you don't use them."

"Konoe-san dismissed this idea almost instantly, saying that that was impossible, and that you'd be dead if that were true. However, I thought that it might have some merit. So I used this to check. And I was right. You don't have tenketsu."

"How do you know?"

"Chakra seals work in a similar way to the Hyuuga clan's Gentle Fist. The exact principles are different, but it's the same general idea, wherein by blocking your tenketsu, they restrict the flow of chakra, only allowing it to flow to where it is needed for the body to survive, and nowhere else."

"The fact that the seal completely unaffected you means one of two things. One, the strength of your chakra burnt out the seal, making it ineffective. Or two, you had no tenketsu for the seal to block. And considering that if that seal were placed on me, I wouldn't be able to access my chakra, it must've been the second option."

"So…" I paused, thinking about this. "This is a good thing then, right? My chakra can't be restrained by seals, and the Hyuuga clan taijutsu won't work on me either. That's great!"

"Neither of those are strictly true, Sakura. While general chakra seals can't block your access to chakra, I'm sure it's possible to create a seal that is specifically tailored to your chakra system, which would leave you in a bad position were the seal or even just info about your chakra to leak to another village."

"And with the Hyuuga, they're probably now more dangerous to you now. The Gentle Fist can be incredibly lethal if the user targets your organs instead of your tenketsu, and considering that any Hyuuga facing you will have no other option… If you're not careful, even a friendly spar could end in your death."

That sobered me up a bit. "Whoa… so not all good, then. I see. Thanks for warning me, sensei."

"That is my job. Now then, let's see what Earth jutsu we can get you, hmm?"

* * *

True to his word, Kakashi-sensei got me three Earth jutsu. Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation, Earth Release: Earth Style Wall, and Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears. Otherwise known as a support/capture jutsu, a defensive technique, and an offensive one. I lost no time in starting to practice with all three.

* * *

"Hey, Sakura."

"Oh. Hey, Rinka." I said, turning around from the earthen wall I had just made to look at her. "What're you doing on the training grounds?"

"Well, I kinda decided that I want to become a ninja."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah!" She replied, before playing with her fingers a bit and continuing. "So uh. How do I do that?"

"Oh, uh. Huh. I don't know who you would talk to about that, actually. Maybe Kakashi-sensei would know. I can go ask him if you'd like-"

"No, that's fine. I know what he looks like, I can find him. Don't want to interrupt your training or anything."

"Oh, okay. If you say so."

"Yeah. Okay, I'll see you later then. Come around to the Senju compound later. It gets kinda lonely by myself."

"I'll do that." Rinka excused herself, as I turned back to the wall. "Well, there's only one way to get rid of this." Sliding into a taijutsu stance, I charged at the wall, intent on breaking it down with my bare fists.

* * *

We went back to taking missions after taking a two week break. They were mainly C-ranks, but they were uninteresting ones. At least it was helping to fill out our lopsided mission records.

* * *

After our first actual C-rank, which had gone off without a hitch and only taken a day, we had another one of the joint training sessions. To my surprise, Rinka was also there. I approached her, wondering if she had really become a ninja in that short amount of time.

Her clothes were different, at least. She wasn't wearing her usual kimono, instead she was wearing a simple training shirt and skirt, with sandals on. Her hair was still tied up in her regular ponytail.

"How come you're here, Rinka? Are you a ninja already?"

"Not yet. Hokage-sama said that I already knew quite a lot of what was necessary to become a ninja like you guys, but I was lacking in a lot of the practical stuff. Kakashi-sensei said that it might be a good idea for me to join in with you guys here, so I could start learning stuff without having to go to the Academy."

"Oh, okay. Are they sure it's a good idea, though? We don't play around here. You could get really hurt."

"Hokage-sama agreed, so I guess."

"Well, I guess his judgement is better than mine." I said, pretty much ending the conversation there, and just in time too.

"Alright then, kiddies. We're going to be doing something a little different today." Kakashi-sensei said, stepping from where he, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei and Yoshino-sensei stood. Ami's sensei hadn't turned up, again. I guess he was just intimidated from being around the jonin sensei and the Nara matriarch.

"With the addition of Rinka here," He gestured towards her, and all eyes turned to her, Sasuke-kun glowering at her. Kakashi-sensei gave him a pointed glare, however, and after grumbling a bit, he just turned away. "we now have twelve of you little genin. So now, we can do what we had intended to from the start. Team fights."

"This first time round, we'll do the teams that you were assigned. In the future though, we will probably be shaking the teams up a little, to get you used to the idea working with different teammates."

"Rinka, Ami, and Aya, since you three don't have a team, you'll be partnered up for today." Looking around, I could see that the three of them didn't seem unhappy with that prospect. "Any questions? No? Great!" Kakashi-sensei asked without waiting for an answer.

"Team 10, Team 7, get ready to go."

* * *

 **Mrs. Beauty  
LV 9  
Yamanaka Ino**

 **Lethargic Genius  
LV 8  
Nara Shikamaru**

 **Big Boned Protector  
LV 11  
Akimichi Choji**

"Guys," I whispered, as we faced Team 10. "Choji's definitely the strongest on their team, but I think we should leave him for last."

"Then who should we go for?" Sasuke-kun asked.

"Shikamaru."

"Why?"

"He's somehow both their weak link and their anchor. Ino's gotten a lot stronger lately, so I think she's stronger than him. If we take him out, they lose their brain, and he's the easiest to take down too."

"Alright. Shikamaru it is then." Sasuke-kun said simply, while Naruto-kun nodded, and all three of us stared straight ahead, itching for the battle to start.

"Begin."

At the simple command, we all instantly scattered, while Team 10 clustered closer together, so someone had eyes on each direction. Looking at them from a bush, I decided against using my False Surroundings. While Sasuke-kun could get through it with his Sharingan, Naruto-kun'd be left in a bad position.

Picking up a rock from the ground, I threw it at Ino to see her reaction, while moving as I threw it to make sure they didn't know where I was. Choji caught it easily, and a shadow snaked out to where I was running. Had I not leapt up a tree, Shikamaru would've caught me.

"Huh. Maybe this won't be so easy." I said to myself.

Five of Naruto's clones broke through the underbrush, but they were all swatted away by Choji's massive arm. As that happened, however, a fireball came through from the other direction, forcing Team 10 to break their tight formation.

I took the chance, Lunging straight for Shikamaru as he leapt away. I collided with him in the air, tackling him to the ground, and found myself unable to move, as he slipped from my grasp, hands in the Rat seal as I copied his movements.

"Shadow Imitation success." He drawled out lethargically. "Let's move on with the plan."

"Choji's keeping Naruto and Sasuke-kun busy for now, but he probably can't last that long against both of them." Ino said. "Sorry about this Sakura, but this gets you out of the way. Plus, you're stronger than me anyway. Mind Body Switch!" Her body collapsed as a blue projectile short towards me.

It hit me just as Shikamaru's shadow retracted, and I recoiled like someone had punched me full on in the face. I felt Ino start to invade my mind, but abruptly, the connection was severed. I realised what had just happened, and I grinned. Gamer's Mind, you might've just gotten me a victory here.

"Ugh…" Ino groaned, and Shikamaru was instantly on alert, but it was too late. I grabbed him, pulling him over to where Ino was, roughly bringing their heads together and knocking them both out.

I brushed off my hands on my skirt, and readjusted my scarf, before moving to help the boys. Not like they needed it, though.

* * *

"Human Bullet Tank!" Choji cried, turning into a huge ball, heading straight for Naruto-kun. I slipped in front of him, much to his surprise, and slammed my palms into the ground.

"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!" A wall of packed earth sprung up in front of me, and Choji charged straight into it. To be fair, he was slowly breaking through it. It's just that he was taking far too long for it to mean anything.

All I heard were four impacts, and then Sasuke-kun saying, "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" before a stream of flame impacted the wall, and Choji as well, I assume. Considering that his attempt to break through the wall stopped at that point, I think I was right about that.

Team 7 took the victory of course, and I took up healing duties again. But really, we should've lost that fight. Had it not been for Gamer's Mind, we probably would've. It's a good reminder that athough we might be an order of magnitude stronger than Team 10, that doesn't mean we're invincible.

* * *

 **And that's that for now. See you all soon.**


	22. Combat

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Combat**

* * *

It looked like I was back on healing duty, and I hadn't made my job easy for myself. Both Shikamaru and Ino could easily have concussions, and Choji had some pretty bad burns from Sasuke-kun's jutsu. All of them were unconscious, so I decided to start with Choji. His wounds were the least potentially complicated, and he'd be the one in the most pain if he woke up before I healed him, so it was only fair.

As I started healing up Team 10, I noticed Aya, Ami-chan and RInka quietly talking, probably hashing out some brief strategies. Aya looked calm and in control as always, while Rinka had a look of determination on her face. Ami-chan just looked excited to fight. It made me smile to myself as I refocused on healing.

* * *

I was only around halfway through healing Choji when the fight between Team 8 and Aya's team began. I kept an eye on it, but made sure that healing was my main focus. I may not be close to Choji or anything, but I'd still feel awful if I managed to mess up the healing and make it worse.

Because of that, my first glimpse of the battle was Aya and Ami-chan engaging the whole of Team 10, and Rinka in the back, looking completely out of her depth. I focused on her, worried, and saw her panicked looks around, before she shut her eyes and clamped her hands on her ears, trying to block out the unfamiliar sights and sounds of battle.

She didn't seem like she was able to completely stop the sounds reaching her, judging by her frenetic shaking. Kiba noticed this, and took the opportunity to break away and approach her.

She had no idea he was coming, but she moved her hands from her ears, and slammed them together into a seal. At once, four trees sprouted from the ground around her, and twisted together into a dome, cutting her, and Kiba who had almost gotten close enough to touch her, off from the world.

"Rinka!" Aya screamed in worry, having just seen that happen. As she heard her, Ami-chan glanced back, eyes widening as she saw the wooden dome that Rinka had created. I didn't have to look around to see that most everyone else was in a similar state.

But the moment passed, and Aya once again re-entered her calm status quo. She hit Hinata with a hard knee, sending her stumbling back, and moved to follow up, nodding to Ami-chan as she passed. Ami-chan nodded back, and leaped forwards to engage Shino. I looked back down to Choji. He was almost healed now.

 **Mystical Palm Technique has increased in level by one!**

Oh, I haven't seen one of those in a while. I moved my worry about Rinka to the back of my mind. She could calm down inside that dome, and Kiba wouldn't hurt her. He may be a dog, but he's not an animal.

* * *

By the time I had moved on to Shikamaru and determined that he at least didn't have a concussion, the match was pretty much over. Ami-chan looked like she was about to fall over against Shino, but when Aya appeared to help her out, he surrendered immediately. Now all they had to do was wait for Rinka to release her jutsu, which happened after a few minutes.

Rinka of course couldn't come close to matching Kiba one-on-one, so she was most certainly out. But Kiba was smart enough to realise that he couldn't beat Aya and Ami-chan by himself, and he surrendered as well, giving Aya and her team the win.

Thankfully, I wouldn't have to heal much. All of the eliminations in that match had been from people surrendering against a superior opponent, and all the wounds inflicted were superficial. Distantly, I heard Kakashi-sensei mention a recess that would last at least as long as it would take for me to heal everyone, so I took that as my que to completely block out the world and focus solely on healing.

* * *

Once Shikamaru and Ino were fully healed, Ami-chan was next. She'd taken a few scratches from Kiba, and had a bruise or two. I stopped focusing so intently on healing, as her wounds weren't nearly as major as the ones Team 10 had taken. "Good match," I quietly praised, smiling at her.

Her head swivelled around to face me, armed with a grin and a twinkle in her eye as she responded just as quietly, saying, "Same to you, Sakura-chan. But did you even see me against Shino? That was embarrassing."

"I only caught the tail end. Was a little focused on Choji's burn wounds at the time."

"Aww, but wounds'll heal. You missed a vital bit of information, not taking notes on my fighting style."

"Honey, from the amount of times we've sparred, I could probably fight using your style myself."

She smirked, conceding the point before returning the favour. "True, but I know how you fight too. And I know about your Earth techniques~!"

I playfully scowled. "Dammit, I forgot I showed you… Well, doesn't matter. We're gonna win." I grinned at her, before cutting off my jutsu and tapping her on the back. "You're all healed. Get Hinata for me, would you?"

* * *

Hinata, Aya and Kiba's healing took around the same amount of time that Ami-chan's did, although the conversations I had with them weren't really as pleasant. In fact, they were pretty much non-existent. Hinata's too shy, Kiba's too loud, and even though Aya and I are on better terms, she just isn't the social type.

Rinka though…

"Hey." I said, taking a seat next to the Senju once all the healing was finished. "I saw some of your fight. Are you sure you're ready for this kind of stuff? Are you sure you wanna be a part of it?"

She took a while to respond. "…Yeah. I'm sure, it's just- I hate the noise. It… brings back unpleasant memories. If… If I could fight without having to hear any of it, then I'd be fine… But that's impossible. I guess I'm just not cut out for this."

"I don't know about that. I'm sure there are plenty of ways of blocking out the noise. At the same time, though, it's probably a pretty bad idea to get rid of one of your major senses in battles like this."

"Yeah."

I could tell I wouldn't get much else out of her. I patted her on the shoulder, standing up and leaving.

* * *

After about ten minutes, we moved on to our fight with Aya's team. I took a quick glance at Rinka, checking to see if she was okay, and I didn't see any of the panic or fear from before. Instead, I could only see her glaring at Sasuke-kun. I guess he had pissed her off after I left.

Whatever had happened, it looked like she was ready to fight, which was an improvement. Nodding to myself, I looked at Aya and Ami-chan, seeing Aya's typical emotionless gaze, and a grin on Ami-chan's face. I cracked my knuckles in anticipation.

 **No One's Little Baby Bear  
LV 9  
Kokuma Ami**

 **Lone Wolf  
LV 15  
Namiki Aya**

 **The Priestess of Nature  
LV 10  
Senju Rinka**

Idly, I wondered if Team 10 had woken up yet.

* * *

As the match began, Ami-chan charged at us, everyone else choosing to retreat. After a moment, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun created their clones, the two chakra constructs moving into engage Ami-chan. While she dealt with them, the three of us landed on a large tree branch. After a moment, I spoke.

"So, what's the plan, Sasuke-kun?" I asked.

"Take them down one at a time. Don't fight Aya alone. She could probably beat any one of us." I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, incredibly surprised.

"Admitting that you're weaker than someone? Is this the real Sasuke-kun?"

He grunted, turning away in embarrassment. "A large part of being a shinobi is knowing what battles you can and can't win. It just took me a while to learn that."

"Yeah, but you can win any fight as long as you don't give up!"

"Sure you can, Naruto."

I giggled at the two of them, before creating a Magic Bullet in each hand, splitting them how I had earlier when I had been experimenting. "Alright then boys. Let's win this."

"Yeah!"

"Hn."

I fired the sixteen smaller Bullets at Ami-chan, right as she took out Naruto-kun's clone with a heavy swing. She wasn't able to react fast enough to dodge, taking direct hits. Unlike before, when the bullets would impact the skin and disappear, they pierced right through her. I'd anticipated that, aiming for non-vital miscellaneous spots, but it still made me wince as I saw the cubic holes appear.

Sasuke-kun didn't have the same hesitation, however. Before she'd even finished recoiling from the shock of my attack, his foot was firmly planted in her chest, sending her flying upwards. He flew through three quick handseals, ending on the Tiger seal, and bringing his hand up to his mouth.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire!" He shouted, many small fireballs escaping from his mouth and flying towards Ami-chan. Thankfully though, she Substituted in time to avoid them. It would've been unpleasant had those hit her.

I joined Sasuke-kun on the ground, as Naruto-kun created a squad of clones before sending them away, presumably to do some scouting or something similar. The three of us grouped up, looking around for anyone.

At the sudden shout of "Jump!" though, I immediately did just that, along with my teammates. I was glad I did, as I saw an exploding tag attached to a kunai appear where our feet were, and a second later, explode.

"They're to our left," Naruto mentioned, so as we touched down, I immediately turned in that direction.

"Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!" I exclaimed, creating the wall to block their vision. Turning back to the boys, I simply said, "Cover for me," using Double Suicide Decapitation to immediately slip underground.

Y'know, I'd always thought that it'd be more interesting under here. But all it is is dark. Of course, there was earth all around me, which is exactly why I had used the technique. I let my chakra bleed out into the direction Aya's team was, and at the limit I could extend it while reaching the surface and retaining control, I used Earth Flow Spears.

That was all I could really do for now. I had no sensory ability, so I couldn't really sense where they were. After a few seconds, I returned to the surface. Both Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun had disappeared, but as I peeked out from behind the wall, I could see that my spears had helped.

Ami-chan was out already. Disappointing, I wanted to fight one-on-one with her. It was just… special, y'know? Rinka didn't look like she was going to be help any time soon, and the boys had Aya on the ropes. Looked like she'd taken a hit to the thigh from one of the spears.

I took my chance to loop around, shooting the smaller Bullets at her from her blindspot. Blindsided, she had the choice of taking hits from Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, or the Bullets. She chose my techniques, leaping gracefully backwards through them, so she only received glancing hits from many of them.

And not only that, but now she was right up in my face. I blocked her opening strike, but I could already tell that she was the better taijutsu fighter. Not one to give up though, I retreated, covering myself with more Bullets. She didn't try to follow me this time, instead only trying to defend herself.

Taking the chance, I took in a deep breath, before exhaling a Flamethrower at her. Aya flipped back from the stream of fire, right into Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun. Before they could do anything though, she flipped over the two of them, landing a few metres away.

"This isn't worth it." She simply stated, turning and walking away. After a moment, I took that as a surrender. I relaxed, going over to Rinka.

"Hey. It's over now, I think." I said simply, squatting down next to her.

"…It is? G-Good," She stated, visibly shaken.

I patted her on the shoulder, picking up Ami-chan and placing her on my shoulder. "Come on." And I should really talk to Kakashi-sensei about Rinka. There's no way she should be anywhere near ninja work with the clear problems she has.

* * *

 **It's pretty hard to get back into writing after a week of not doing any.**


	23. Xenologue 2

**Been a while. Sorry about that. School's been rough.**

 **This Game of Life**

 **Xenologue 2**

* * *

"That took less time than I expected." Kakashi stated simply, eyes trained on the words of his beautiful book.

With an acidic tone, Kurenai spat "You haven't even been watching for half the time. You've just been reading that smut."

"Well, of course. It was obvious who was going to win. My team winning against Asuma's was unexpected. They were meant to learn that having the most brute force doesn't always mean their victory is assured, but… Sakura somehow negated the Mind Body Switch. With that, then it was obvious who would win once you even glanced at the other match."

"Without his Sharingan, Sasuke's only the second most powerful genin here in raw skill. Aya takes the top spot, and Ami is a good match for Naruto right now. But Rinka's breakdowns meant they were down a member, and they wouldn't be able to compete."

"And Team 8, while they have good teamwork, don't have the strength to bring them down. They win in a battle of attrition, but my team has Naruto, who can outlast almost anybody. And even regardless, they would've been defeated long before they drained my team so they could no longer fight."

"Taking that all into account, once Team 10 lost, it was all over. Call it bad luck on their part, but they chose the wrong person to try and take over. That cost them, and by extension, everyone else." Kakashi finished, flipping over to the next page.

"Wait, Sasuke's unlocked his Sharingan? I've never even seen him use it."

"I told him not to. Didn't want to deal with accidentally stealing clan techniques and such, and this way, he's learning not to rely on it. If he gets used to fighting without it, he'll only use it when he needs it, and he'll be the better ninja for it."

"I see…" Kurenai stated, falling silent again, while Asuma lit another cigarette, the smell of tobacco wafting through the Nara compound. Yoshino was nowhere to be seen, having gone in to prepare lunch as soon as the final match had concluded.

"Well." Kakashi said, closing his book with a firm clap. "We have some more time, so I'm going to set up another little thing I was thinking of." With that, he walked towards all of the rookies, leaving Asuma and Kurenai.

After a moment of silence, one of the two decided to speak. "Don't smoke in front of the kids," Kurenai quietly chided.

"They're adults now. They stopped being kids when they got those headbands." Asuma retorted, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"Easily impressionable adults, maybe."

"Okay, okay, fine. This'll be the last one."

"It better be."

* * *

"Sakura, is everyone healed?"

"As much as I can heal them, sensei."

"Good." Clapping his hands together to get the attention of the rookies, Kakashi loudly stated, "Alright then. Sakura, Shino, Shikamaru, come here and stand to my right. Naruto, Ami, Kiba, stand to my left. Sasuke, Hinata, and Rinka, stand in front of me, and Aya, Choji, and Ino, stand next to Sasuke's group."

Waiting for all of the rookies to follow his instructions, Kakashi took a step back, seeing the four groups form. "We're doing another exercise. Each of these four groups is a team, however you aren't going to be fighting each other traditionally. Instead, there are going to be challenges for you to undertake. One of speed, one of strength, and one of control."

Taking a look at all the arrayed genin looking at him, Kakashi's eyes hardened. "The speed challenge is first. You have a minute to choose who in your team will be taking this challenge. Go." Each of the genin reacted in surprise, before quickly going to confer amongst themselves.

True to his words, after a minute had passed, Kakashi halted each group's conversations with a clear "Stop! Whoever's doing the speed challenge, step forward." Instantly, Aya, Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba stepped up.

"Great." Kakashi smiled.

* * *

Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, Aya and Kiba stood at the edge of the Nara compound, facing the main building where the clan themselves lived.

"The speed challenge is simply a race. Get to the house before the others do. Weapons and jutsu are all allowed." Kakashi paused, gauging the four genin's reactions to the final statement, but only Kiba seemed at all caught off guard, the other three simply preparing to take off.

"Ready," Sasuke's body dipped, lowering his centre of gravity, as Aya did the same. Sakura's feet dug into the ground from the sprint starting position she had assumed, and Kiba refocused on the race about to happen. "Go."

Barely after the first sound of the word had left his mouth, Sakura shot forward like a bullet, flying towards the clan's building at an incredible speed for a genin. _She has an amazing first step,_ Kakashi thought to himself. _Her speed during it is actually higher than her regular top speed. That kind of explosive power would mean she'd be devastating with any leg-based taijutsu, even if her bones probably wouldn't be able to take the impact of her own attacks._

 _Although, training with Gai would probably fix that, but considering he's already refused to train her once before, I doubt much will have changed. His focus'd be on his mini-me anyway._ Sasuke and Aya reacted just as quickly, albeit with not nearly as much speed. Still, the two of them sped off after Sakura, and all three of them left Kiba in the dust.

"Hey, wait! Four Legs Technique!" Kiba shouted, running after them. His movements quickly became more animalistic and feral, moving swiftly and easily into four legged strides rather than two legged ones.

 _Kiba's the fastest out of them, although Aya and Sasuke aren't that far behind. Sakura'll only win if they let her keep getting first steps off of things. If they can stop her from doing that, she's pretty much fighting for second place at the most._

Kakashi quietly watched, as a brace of kunai arced their way towards Sakura as she took a bounding leap forward. With a painful looking contortion of her body, she twisted past the weapons sent flying by Aya, and straight into the path of KIba's whirling Passing Fang, smashing into her arms and sending her flying.

Sasuke blew past all three of them however, and after a moment of recovery for them all, they chased after him, all determined to win.

Kakashi nodded to himself, impressed. _They're all abnormally talented for rookie genin. Even Ami is impressive, and she's both the weakest and the one without a jonin sensei. And it's not just to do with heritage. After all, Sakura's one of the ones leading the pack._

 _I can't wait until the Chunin Exams._

* * *

I panted, out of breath. I just barely made it. It being not coming dead last. I beat out Kiba by like, two seconds or something ridiculous like that. Aya and Sasuke-kun weren't far ahead though. I'm pretty sure they tied, but I'm way too tired to care right now.

I flopped onto the ground, staring at the sky. Distantly, I heard Kakashi-sensei calling the start of the strength competition. I struggled, pushing myself up to watch, before losing my energy and falling back down to the ground. The amount of Lunges I had done plus the fights and healing before had taken it all out of me. I'm done for the day.

* * *

Naruto looked around at the people he was up against. Choji looked like he'd be hard to beat, but Rinka-chan and Shino probably weren't all that strong. Even still, he hoped that everyone would do well. As long as he won in the end, though. Kakashi-sensei started explaining the rules, but Naruto quickly tuned him out.

"Blah blah blah… All we're doing is smashing some bricks." He said to himself, ignoring everything else. He knew what he had to do, so he'd do it. It's not like he'd ever cheat, so what was the point of knowing the rules anyway.

When the match started, then, he was immediately caught off guard when two huge arms picked up a massive boulder and threw it at him, Rinka and Shino, scattering them, leaving Choji to start breaking his pile of bricks. _Maybe I should've listened,_ Naruto thought to himself.

Unsurprisingly, Choji won the strength contest. What was surprising was that Rinka came in second, and Shino in third. Naruto came in last, in something he had expected to dominate in. It put some things in perspective for the boy.

* * *

The final four stood, waiting for their control challenge. "You all know how to climb trees, right?" Kakashi asked. Receiving four nods, he nodded himself, before pointing to the pond in the clearing. "The first of you to figure out how to walk on that wins. Go."

The genin all scrambled to the pond, Ami reaching it first and falling straight in when she placed her foot upon the water and tried to walk. Hinata and Shikamaru slowed as they approached, leaving Ino to try and attempt the water walking, failing in a similar manner to Ami.

 _Since I worded it so vaguely, Shikamaru and Hinata are wondering if there's a trick to this, if there's something they need to figure out. That means Ino and Ami will probably win. They didn't even think about it. They made a link between it and tree climbing, and that's all that's necessary. If they take too long to get it down though, Hinata'll probably snatch the victory right out from under them._

Even as he thought that, Ino shakily stood atop the water's surface for a moment, before whatever focus she had disappeared in her excitement, and she fell into the water. Seeing this invigorated Hinata, and she joined Ami and Ino in trying to adapt the principles of tree climbing to fit the rolling water of the pond.

Shikamaru however, did something unexpected. His hands slowly went through a sequence that Kakashi recognised as the Shadow Sewing Technique, and his shadow darkened to a deep black, becoming a circle on the ground below him.

Tendrils of shadow sluggishly moved from this circle, showing Shikamaru's inexperience with this technique, forming another circle atop the surface of the water. Shikamaru calmly stepped atop it, and looked back at Kakashi. "Is this good enough for you?" He lazily drawled.

Kakashi was caught off guard. He had known the Shadow Sewing technique turned the user's shadow solid, but he hadn't ever heard of it being used in this way. But he shrugged. _My fault for being vague. He's done what I asked._ "That's game. Shikamaru wins."

Shikamaru sighed to himself. "So, can I have a nap now?"

* * *

 **Like I said, school's been rough. Final year and all that. It's a bit of a struggle to find the time to write. Having said that, been thinking about starting another story, a DBZ one. Hopefully it'd be decent if I do. Anyway, later. See you next chapter.**


	24. Confusion

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 21**

 **Confusion**

* * *

The now customary afternoon lunch after group training was noticeably less lively than usual. Everyone seemed to be worn out, even Naruto. Perhaps it was just me, though. Having said that, the tiredness I felt was odd, considering both my HP and MP were at their maximum at the time. Perhaps there was a hidden stat that governed tiredness that was unrelated to both. Perhaps it had been building up since I didn't sleep anymore, or maybe I just worked that hard today.

Either way, hidden stat or no, this tiredness was seemingly out of my control. As soon as I stumbled back home, I collapsed into my bed and fell asleep, for the first time in a long time.

* * *

I awoke feeling refreshed and ready to go. It's just as well then that there was no training today, seeing as it was both a Sunday and we had been training hard yesterday. Given that I had nothing better to do however, I thought about hanging out with Rinka or Ami-chan. After a moment's thought, I settled on going to see Ami-chan. Knowing her, she'd be out training.

* * *

Surprisingly though, I was wrong about that. Having checked the training grounds she and I commonly frequented, she wasn't currently training. Briefly, I thought that she had perhaps gone to a different training ground to practice in unfamiliar terrain, but I didn't think that was the case. As harsh as it sounded, she still had catching up to do even on favourable terrain. It'd be a waste to practice on something else considering.

Shrugging to myself, I turned around to enact Plan B, heading straight for the Senju District. To be honest, I should've gone for Rinka first considering how she was in the fights yesterday. She might still not be entirely alright. I'm not exactly sure why I thought going to see Ami-chan would be more important than that.

I mean, she's like my best friend, and I haven't known RInka nearly as long, but still. I should be worrying more about her, right? I mean, Rinka's cool and all, and yeah, she wasn't feeling great yesterday, but Ami-chan is different.

…Wait, what? I was so confused about where my thoughts had just gone that I came to a stop for second in the street, before realising that I was blocking other people, and quickly leaping up to a rooftop.

As I resumed the journey to the Senju District atop the roofs of the village, I thought about what had just happened. Had my ability rerouted my thoughts for some reason? Calling up my status window, I quickly checked to see if there were any active statuses on me, but the only ones visible were Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body.

 _And had there even been one,_ I thought to myself, _Gamer's Mind would've rendered any mental effects on me from it ineffective._

Which meant that weird jump in logic had been all me. While that relieved me in a sense, it also made me even more confused. What was it about Ami-chan that was making me value her above someone that I'm almost as close to that clearly isn't in the best of places?

I would've thought on the matter some more, but I realised that there was no more time for me to. I'd arrived at Rinka's house.

* * *

As I stepped in, I wasn't completely surprised to see that Aya was already there. I'd forgotten somewhat that the two of them had really hit it off. Good thing too. At least someone had been here to keep her company.

"Sakura-san." Aya quietly greeted me. "You're here to see Rinka?"

"Yeah. Is she doing okay? Feeling better than she was yesterday, at least?"

At that, Aya looked away from me, a frown on her face. "Somewhat, I suppose. Come. Kokuma-san is with her right now." She turned around, moving up the stairs. I blinked, before stepping forward, slipping off my footwear and following. At least that explained where Ami-chan was. A slight pang of jealousy overcame me for a second, but I ignored it.

Aya and I stepped into Rinka's room, where she was still in bed, Ami-chan sitting crosslegged beside her. Visually, she looked fine, but that didn't really mean much. "Sakura," she chirped. "You came to see me?"

"Yeah. I was wondering how you were doing. You didn't seem to be doing all that great during the fighting yesterday. I was worried."

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry about that though. I'm fine now!" She said happily.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting it to be so… loud. I'll be better next time, though." Both Ami-chan and Aya had looks of scepticism on their faces, and judging from Rinka's face dropping, I probably had one on as well.

"Fine." She conceded. "I'm not okay. It brought back bad memories, and I'm not sure how to deal with them. And the _noise_ – I don't get how you guys can deal with it. It's horrendous!"

"We're used to it, I guess," Ami-chan stated. "To be honest, I don't even notice that much noise. I'm too focused on winning the fight."

"Same here." I chimed in. "And all the sounds I do hear are normally vital in a fight. The sound of a fire jutsu coming at you can save your life."

Rinka seemed to curl up in her bed, pulling the covers closer to her. "I… I just don't understand." I opened my mouth to respond again but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Aya stated quietly, before slipping away from the room back downstairs. I heard the door open, before it almost instantly slammed shut again, with Aya coming back up the stairs with a grimace on her face. I heard it open and close one last time, before the last person I would ever have expected to be here came into the room.

"Sasuke?" Rinka reacted with surprise, before her expression morphed into a mixture of anger, irritation, and embarrassment. "What are you doing here?"

Not one to beat around the bush, Sasuke-kun simply said "If how you were yesterday is how you're intending to act in every fight, then I would probably start looking for a different profession."

Rinka grit her teeth in anger. "Fuck you, Uchiha. I'll do whatever I want with my life, no matter what you say!"

Unnoticed to everyone but me, the ghost of a smile flitted across Sasuke-kun's face as he heard Rinka's defiant response. "Then you might want to try these next time. They'll block out the sound if the music is loud enough." He said, throwing what seemed to be one of those portable music players with some headphones. Expensive ones, too, especially considering how rare those things were.

"See you later, Senju." Sasuke-kun turned on his heel and left the room, Rinka's mouth agape in surprise and confusion at his actions.

A rosy blush coloured her face, as she looked down at her bedsheets, quietly saying, "Thank you." A few seconds after the words left her mouth, Sasuke-kun opened the door, leaving the house.

"That was… odd." Ami-chan stated, looking at the spot where Sasuke-kun had just been.

"You're telling me." Even as I said the words, a smile rose to my face unbidden. That one tiny interaction had just shown how much Sasuke-kun had changed from how he was just a few months ago.

* * *

The four of us chatted the morning away, as I kept my strange logic earlier on in the back of my mind, even as I laughed and joked with Ami-chan, all the while with Rinka looking at the music player and holding it with a certain tenderness that I hadn't seen from her before.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. I need to talk to you about something." Ami-chan said, as we left Rinka's house, the girl seemingly feeling much better after our company and Sasuke-kun's gift.

"Sure." I said. "What's up?"

"Well, can we head somewhere else first? It's kinda private."

"Um, yeah. Of course!" My heart started beating a little bit faster.

* * *

We jumped up to the rooftops of the village, before deciding the best place for the talk was the top of the Hokage Monument, since we'd be able to tell if anyone came to talk to us. Plus, it was a pretty great view.

"So, what's the issue?" I said, my pulse going a million miles a minute.

"Well, there are two things. They're both super important. I need your advice on both."

"Sure, I'll help in any way I can." My heart felt just about ready to burst.

"Okay. Well, the first thing needs a bit of explanation." She looked slightly nervous for a second, before breathing out and calming herself down. "Okay. So, you know my clan is the Kokuma, right?"

"Yeah, of course." I said, wondering where she was going with this. "The Kokuma, or the Bear Cub clan, right?"

She looked nervous once again. "Yeah. About that. That's not… really what our clan name means. It really means Black Devil, after the demon our clan's ancestor sold his soul to to gain the power to compete against the other clans during the Warring States Era."

I blinked. "What!?"

"Um. Yeah. Ever since then, we've had a bloodline limit of sorts. It's pretty sporadic in showing up, but… it essentially allows the user to turn into a demon. Nothing on the level of something like the tailed beasts, or something ridiculous like that, but… yeah. It's not your typical Sharingan."

"But the thing is, well. Using it corrupts the person, permanently transforming part of their body into the demon they're transforming into. No one in my clan uses the bloodline anymore because of it. They didn't want us to be known as a clan of demons."

"But I have the potential to transform. And I'm tired of being so far behind everyone else in these training sessions. I need a real edge, and this could be it. So what I wanted to ask you is, should I do it? Should I try and make a contract with the demon that contracted with my clan's ancestor?"

I blinked once again as I processed everything she had just said to me. My answer didn't require even a second of thought, however. "Of course. We use every advantage we get. That's rule number one, isn't it?" I asked, smiling.

She sighed in relief, smiling herself. "Then on to the second thing."

"There's this guy." My heart dropped. "Someone I really like, who I think likes me as well. Do you think I should tell him just how much I like him? And do you think he won't care about whatever… demon thing I'll get?"

"Um…" I felt crushed, for some unexplained reason. Even still, I pushed on to answer her question. "Yeah, you should. Just get it out there. If he isn't interested now, he probably won't be later. And if he does care about the demon thing, he isn't worth your time anyway. That should be the least of his worries."

"Okay." She said, smiling. "Sakura-chan."

"Yes?"

"I have a crush on you."

My broken heart mended itself.

* * *

 **This is late as fuck, but at least it's finally here. Sorry it took so long. But we're so close to the start of everything I've planned. The real story is going to begin any moment now.**

 **Thank you all for following this story, and to all of you who've been faithful and patient enough to wait for this update. Without you, I would've lost motivation months ago.**


	25. Acceptance

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 22**

 **Acceptance**

* * *

 **Gonna have a quick note before we begin. Just want to let you all know that I'm well aware that this facet of Ami and Sakura's relationship is rushed, at least on Sakura's side of things. I decided to go ahead with it despite this because I haven't been updating nearly as regularly lately, and I decided it was better to get all the important things out of the way and move on with the plot, instead of spending time on a few slice-of-life chapters to flesh it out properly. To be honest, this revelation isn't even all that important considering what's going to happen later.**

 **Anyway. On we go.**

* * *

Caught off guard by the sudden revelation, it was all I could do to simply say "Oh," in response to Ami-chan. However, despite my surprise, I was also feeling strangely happy about it. I smiled without thinking, but didn't say anything else.

Ami-chan didn't say anything either. She just walked over to me, smiling as well. Tentatively, she grasped my hand, entwining her fingers with mine as she looked into my eyes.

* * *

We spent a couple of hours up on the mountain, enjoying each other's company, as we watched the sun set.

* * *

I didn't go to sleep that night. I couldn't, not when I felt guilty for not training during the day. But it was hard for me to even focus on my training. It was all I could do to keep my thoughts from Ami-chan and how excited I was about our new relationship.

So it was no surprise that in an entire night, I only managed to gain a single point of VIT, something I should've been able to do in a couple of hours, had I really been focusing on it. Speaking of, though, I was at a slight impasse. I'd been putting almost all my focus into my skills, whether it being learning them, mastering them, or modifying them into new ones, so much so that my actual stats were pretty damn lacklustre.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 12** **  
** **HP: 180/180** **  
** **MP: 96/96** **  
** **STR: 15** **  
** **VIT: 15** **  
** **DEX: 15** **  
** **INT: 58** **  
** **WIS: 33** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 0**

I mean, my INT was really good, but my base INT had been too. My WIS was good enough, but my physical stats had barely improved in comparison. I decided that I would need to get them up to par sooner rather than later.

But that's beside the point. Once I noticed the time, I quickly washed up and got changed, ready for a day of training, or some sort of mission. In half an hour, I was ready, and went out to my team's regular meeting spot.

* * *

Of course, Kakashi-sensei wasn't there when I got there, but Sasuke-kun was. "Hey, Sasuke-kun." I greeted as I approached.

He turned to look at me, a slight smirk on his face. "Sakura."

"So… what was that thing with you and Rinka yesterday about?" I asked him, grinning.

He immediately turned away, embarrassed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh huh. Well, it was nice of you. Those things are expensive."

"…Mm. It's not like I'm hurting for money. I just thought it might help her out."

My grin got even wider. "Such a gentleman, helping out the heir to the clan yours feuded against."

He got even more embarrassed, crossing his arms and getting in a huff. "Leave me alone, Sakura."

"Will do. Wouldn't want to intrude on you and Rinka anyway." I ducked under the swipe to my head, and leapt backwards, laughing all the way. The anger in Sasuke-kun's eyes burned for a moment, before fading, and a full, actual smile appeared on his face. I smiled back, and the two of us shared a laugh, just as Naruto-kun arrived.

The look of horror on his face just made us laugh harder.

* * *

Once we had calmed Naruto-kun down and assured him that no, Sasuke-kun hadn't been possessed or replaced by an enemy ninja, and Kakashi-sensei arrived, we all went to the mission office. Kakashi-sensei began discussing the available missions with Iruka-sensei, as per usual. However, as they seemed to decide on a mission, the secretary from outside Hokage-sama's office came into the room.

"Hatake Kakashi, the Hokage requests you and your team's prescence."

"Is that so?" He replied. "Well, never mind then, Iruka. It looks like Hokage-sama has something in mind for us." With that, he turned and strode out of the room, the three of us following.

* * *

"I'm rather touched that you have this much faith in my team, but… Don't you think this is a bit high-ranked for my team, Hokage-sama?"

"It is a borderline A-rank, yes, but most of that comes from who you're guarding. It's not every day that the Swamp Daimyo comes to visit, after all. Besides, you aren't taking him all the way back to the Land of Swamps, only halfway."

"But still," Kakashi-sensei continued. "it's a tad much for a genin team."

"We don't have anyone else that can do this, Kakashi. I would have sent a special jonin, but the only one in the village available is Anko, and according to Ibiki, the TI Department is behind due to dropping everything to process Senju Rinka-san. Your team and Gai's team are the only ones I feel are ready for this, and considering how well you handled the mission to Wave, despite all of the… issues, I feel that you're more than ready for this."

"And besides. No ninja in their right mind would attack a Daimyo's caravan unless they were completely desperate. You should only have bandits to worry about, something your genin should be able to handle easily."

The underlying message was clear. Hokage-sama couldn't send a special jonin, so he'd just send a jonin instead, using their genin team to justify them being sent on a B-rank. I didn't really like the fact that because of that, this wasn't really _our_ mission, but I certainly wasn't going to complain.

Kakashi-sensei was silent for a moment, before he gave in, acquiescing. "Alright. We accept the mission."

"Good." Hokage-sama said from behind his pipe. "Chichiatsu-dono is in the capital, currently under the Fire Daimyo's hospitality. You should arrive to take him to the halfway-checkpoint by tomorrow."

"Understood."

* * *

"Alright. Prepare for a mission that'll take about as long as our trip to Wave. Don't worry about food, or camping gear. We'll be travelling the Swamp Daimyo's caravan, so meals and such will be handled for us. Just bring your weapons and any jutsu scrolls you might be working on."

Kakashi-sensei looked each of us in the eye, before nodding. "Meet at the village gates in three hours." With that, he disappeared, using the Body Flicker technique. Man, I want to learn that… maybe I should see if the library has a copy of the scroll I can 'borrow'. It's not like it's a rare technique. It'd be good if I could use this trip to practice it a bit.

Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun and I split up, the two of them going back home to pack, while I started making tracks to the jutsu library. Considering we wouldn't need camping gear, and I already had a good supply of weapons on me considering I barely use them, the only thing I'd need to pack would be clothes anyways.

* * *

Greeting the receptionist as I walked in, I made a beeline for the D-rank scrolls, my eyes scanning through them alphabetically. I found it quickly, taking it to the receptionist to check out.

"Do you have permission from your sensei to take that out?" she asked me, a serious look on her face.

"Uh…" I said, suddenly nervous. "Not as such, no…"

She chuckled. "Don't worry, it's only a D-rank. You can take those out yourself. Just be careful with this one, okay? Don't be the next genin so excited about learning the Body Flicker they crack their head open on a tree."

"I'll be careful."

"Good. Take care."

"You too!"

I leapt up to the rooftop of the library, taking out the scroll.

 **Would you like to learn the skill 'Body Flicker Technique'? Y/N**

I felt ever so slightly guilty that I was going to destroy this scroll, but considering how common and how in-demand this jutsu was, they should have tons of copies anyway. Unhesitatingly, I tapped yes, watching the scroll shatter into figments of blue light as I had so many times before.

 **Body Flicker Technique (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%  
Using their internal energies, the user temporarily vitalises the body and moves at extreme speeds. By using the Body Flicker Technique, one can move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed.  
Uses MP to move a short distance. MP used depends on user's INT, skill mastery, and distance from end point.**

I quickly read the skill's description, before dismissing the box, and turning to face the direction of my house. Looking at a building across the street, I visualised where I wanted to go, and activated the skill.

The scenery around me seemed to distort, and it felt more like I was still, forcing the world to move around me than it did me actually moving to my destination. The sensation lasted for an infinitesimally small amount of time, yet it felt much longer. And suddenly, I was on another rooftop.

I smiled. I like this skill.

* * *

Using the Body Flicker to make my way home, I quickly packed and said goodbye to my parents, before heading out again. It had taken a bit longer than I expected to pack, truth be told, so I really only had time to walk to the gates via the scenic route. I didn't want to risk it, though, so I simply Flickered my way there, running into Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun there.

"Hey boys," I greeted. "Any sign of Kakashi-sensei?"

"None yet." Sasuke-kun replied quickly. "Were you actually expecting him to be on time for once?"

"Oh, Sasuke. You wound me!" said Kakashi-sensei, as he appeared from nowhere, hands on the boys' heads. Both of them jumped at his sudden appearance. I was able to stop myself due to Gamer's Mind.

"So…" He started, his eye closing. "Are we all ready to go?"

* * *

Nowhere I had ever been even compared to our home village. Wave had at least been somewhat comparable in size, the incredible amount of poverty and squalor had reduced it to a shadow of its former self, and that little hamlet where we had found Rinka was basically the equivalent of one of the Leaf's larger neighbourhoods.

But compared to the capital of the Land of Fire, the Leaf was that tiny hamlet. I had always been dimly aware in the back of my mind that the capital would be even more amazing than my home, but it never really clicked until now.

It made sense when you thought about it. Ninja villages are huge hubs for a country, and fittingly massive compared to other settlements. But considering that _ninja_ lived in them? The types of civilians who lived in those villages would have to be as insane as the ninja who were their main population. After all, many of them were there purely because their family had ninja in them.

Most civilians wouldn't want to be anywhere near a ninja village. Sure, the constant protection was a big bonus, and the cheap labour that was D-rank missions was a plus too. But there would be constant fear of infiltration, invasion, battles, war. It's not as if people in other places were exempt from those, but both the frequency and severity of them were lessened when there wasn't ninja about.

No, they would much rather be in settlements only filled with _their_ kind, with no thieving, warmongering ninja around to mess things up. This is where the big businessmen, the nobles, wise men, and the samurai flocked to, and it damn well showed.

It was absolutely massive. From the moment that it came into view, we couldn't even see how wide it was, our vision stopping where the walls continued. There were towering buildings, taller and wider than even the Hokage Tower, and not just a few.

Beautiful parks with rolling fields and crystalline lakes dotted the city. And the sheer amount of people walking everywhere only served to further show how mind-bogglingly massive this place truly was.

And to top it all off, in the centre of the city lay its crowning jewel. A massive palace, emblazoned with the same kanji that was on Hokage-sama's hat and robes. The symbol of fire.

Kakashi-sensei laughed as we walked into the city, eyes wide and taking in every detail. "It's a sight to behold, isn't it?" He walked in front of us, causing us to refocus. I became distinctly aware of the glances being thrown our way from every direction. Our clothes set us apart from the common civilian, and more than that, our headbands truly marked us as something _other_.

Curious people tried to catch glimpses, some more subtle than others, and I wasn't sure if it was just due to us being not of the norm, or if it were something else.

"This is overwhelming as well. The feeling that everyone has their eyes on you. It takes some getting used to."

"Why didn't we get this reaction in Wave, or in that other village?" Sasuke-kun quietly asked.

"In Wave, people were much too preoccupied with their own survival to spare some strangers a glance. It likely would've happened in that village, though. At least, had we not stuck to the shadows there, for the most part."

Satisfied with that explanation, Sasuke-kun nodded, and tried not to squirm under the steadily increasing number of eyes on us.

"We're to meet Chichiatsu-dono at the Palace of Fire. Let's go." Kakashi-sensei walked forwards, heading straight for the large palace in the centre of the city. After a moment, I strode after him as confidently as I could, with the boys at my sides.

* * *

As we approached the palace gates, two samurai looking men crossed their naginata in front of it, crying, "Halt! What business do you-" They suddenly stopped as they got a good look at us, before smiling and clearing the path. "Ah, Kakashi-dono! Honda-sama has been expecting you."

"Mm, has he? It's been quite a while since I heard that. You obviously know why we're here then. May we pass?"

"Of course."

With that, Kakashi-sensei stepped past, leading us into the palace proper. We were greeted by a handmaiden, who quickly showed us a place to sit, refreshments (we refused), and told us to wait for someone to tell us when Honda-dono and Chichatsu-dono would be ready.

* * *

As we waited, I idly though about what the two would be like. I knew from the academy that the Fire Daimyo was an older, kind man, if a little conformist. But I hadn't heard anything about the Swamp Daimyo, and just as well. Swamp was so minor a country it still had yet to develop a ninja village. He was as unimportant to a ninja as a daimyo could be.

Another handmaiden, this one older and calmer, told us that the daimyo were ready to receive us, and lead us to where they were waiting. As she slid open the door, a quick glance from sensei told us all to be on our best behaviour.

* * *

We stepped into the room, and I saw the two of them, sat at the head of a table, chatting. Behind them stood a samurai each, both old enough that silver had begun to colour their hair. The Fire Daimyo was exactly as I was expecting, but also surprisingly nondescript. Slightly on the chubby side, with beady black eyes, short black hair adorned with the blue headdress that all daimyo wore, and a simple, two-tone yukata.

Considering the palace and city he lived in, I would've expected something much more extravagant. But as I looked at the second daimyo, that may simply have been down to all daimyo wearing the same thing.

Chichiatsu-dono wore the exact same clothes as Honda-dono, but that's where the similarities ended. Chichiatsu-dono had startlingly red eyes, and unruly hair of the same shade. He had a much healthier physique than his counterpart, and the most striking difference between the two was their age.

While Honda-dono looked to be at least in his late fourties, Chichiatsu-dono was barely older than me, looking to be around 15, maybe even younger. Despite that, he had a certain air about him, something that Honda-dono lacked. It intrigued me.

As these thoughts flew through my mind in an instant, the two of them turned to look at us, Honda-dono's face lighting up jovially at the sight of Kakashi-sensei, while Chichiatsu-dono sent a nervous smile to each of us three genin.

"Ah, Chichiatsu-dono, he is the one I was talking about! Kakashi-kun, please, come!" Honda-dono laughed, beckoning us towards them.

"You four are the team that are going to protect me?" He asked. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all." He said, smiling at us again, this time lingering on each of us as he did. It felt as if he spent a touch longer smiling at me than everyone else.

"Oh yes, you're getting your money's worth with them. Kakashi-kun is my second choice for the Hokage once Hiruzen finally decides to retire, you know! And Hiruzen tells me that his trainees are a force to be reckoned with as well! Despite being rookies, they managed to fight off two much stronger ninja until Kakashi-kun arrived and drove them off, apparently." Honda-dono stated, now looking at the three of us.

"Is that so?" Chichiatsu-dono said, smiling again. "Well, I feel honoured to have such talented ninja protect me. Hopefully, your services won't even be required, but it makes me feel safer to know I have the best of the best available in an emergency."

"Apologies, Chichiatsu-sama," the samurai behind the Daimyo of Swamp coughed, "but now that your… _escorts_ have arrived, I believe it's best we be off sooner rather than later. Mitsuki is as good an aide as you could hope for, but you know as well as I do that he can't run the country for too long."

"You're quite right, Toyohisa. Very well then." Standing up, Chichiatsu-dono bowed to Honda-dono. "Thank you very much for your hospitality, Fire Daimyo-dono."

"You are welcome."

Straightening up from his bow, he turned to us, giving us a more confident, sunny smile. "I am in your hands now."

* * *

 **And that's that. I'm so excited for what's to come.**


	26. Journey

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 23**

 **Journey**

 **Alright. I've gotten a few questions as to why I chose for Sakura's romance to go in the direction it did. I'm here to explain why.**

 **You might've noticed, that Sakura's personality is wildly different from what it was in this point in canon despite the fact there has been little to no reason for there to be such a change, at least at first glance. However, something that no one has yet commented on is the complete and utter lack of Inner Sakura.**

 **That is because she's gone.**

 **The Gamer's Mind interpreted the split personality as a negative effect, and so to fix it, forcibly fused Inner Sakura and the regular Sakura's personalities together.**

 **You could then say that the same thing happened in canon to Shippuden Sakura so it doesn't justify the change, and again you'd be right, but not entirely. The fusion of her personalities into one and the shift from internal desires into external ones was a gradual change that happened to an older, more mature girl. The suddenness of the fusion and the younger age that it occurred at put her mind in a strange place.**

 **And adding to the dilemma is none other than puberty, a process that also throws one's mind into whack. The combination of her hidden feelings and wild hormonal changes is what caused the radical shift in Sakura.**

 **As to why exactly this is relevant to Sakura developing feelings for Ami? The answer's relatively simple. Sakura based much of her life and self-worth on having a crush in canon. This was Sasuke originally. However, due to the circumstances of the story, her attraction to him waned.**

 **The remnants of her mind that still valued this were then left stuck, with no target upon which Sakura could place her dreams on. And then along comes her best friend.**

 **That was someone that Sakura liked, and enjoyed spending time with. She was both more accepting because of her hormonal changes, and due to Inner Sakura's influence simply making her more accepting and lowering her inhibitions.**

 **It was a match made in heaven for her mind, and its course of action was clear.**

 **As to why the attraction was so sudden, that's simply because I felt that it would be better to move on with the story than to spend time building this up. In the grand scheme of things, this is going to be minor. Incredibly so. You'll see why in a few chapters.**

 **Wow, that was actually a pretty long message for something I intended to be short and sweet. I hope this adequately explains my decision, and I hope that this won't put you off the story. We have a lot coming.**

* * *

We followed Chichiatsu-dono out of the palace, who in turn followed the samurai, Toyohisa. Silently, we moved into formation around him, Sasuke-kun and I at his sides, with Naruto-kun and Kakashi-sensei bringing up the rear. Since Toyohisa seemed to be Chichiatsu-dono's personal bodyguard, he could go ahead and take point. He was leading us anyway.

As we moved beside him, Chichiatsu-dono smiled at both Sasuke-kun and I. So far, he seemed nice enough, or at the very least someone who smiles a lot.

Looking at Toyohisa, I briefly wondered how strong he was. He seemed experienced and skilled, but I wasn't sure if he would be able to stand up to us. After all, there was no guarantee that he could use chakra, and he couldn't be that strong if Chichiatsu-dono needed to hire ninja for protection.

 **Torch-Bearer of the Marshes  
LV 27  
Mihikata Toyohisa**

Wow. I actually nodded in quiet respect, as I realised that was the same level as the girl that had dominated all three of us at once back in Wave. Of course, we were stronger than we had been then, but he was still clearly in another level compared to us. Still though, compared to Kakashi-sensei, he was utterly outclassed.

"So, um," Chichiatsu-dono began, clearing his throat. After an instant, I realised he was talking to me, and my eyes flicked over to him accordingly. "You people aren't much older than me, are you? Are all ninja around our age?"

"I think we're actually younger than you, Chichiatsu-dono," I replied smoothly. "We're only twelve. The reason we probably seem more developed than most you know that are our age is due to our high levels of chakra compared to most. It makes both our minds and bodies grow faster than people without those high chakra levels."

"I see," He replied, seeming to think for a moment. "This chakra, that's what elevates you above the common soldier, right? I've heard that it allows people to use some sort of magic. Can you all perform those magic tricks?"

"Yes, we can." I confirmed easily. "In fact, learning a few basic ones is a requirement for graduation from a student to a full ninja. It's just, it's not 'magic'. Those techniques are called jutsu."

"Ah, I see. Would it be possible to show me any? I'm very intrigued by all of this. My home country doesn't have any ninja, you see."

"That would probably be a bad idea." Kakashi-sensei interjected. "Most jutsu are purely destructive in nature, or at least geared towards use in battle. To use them in a huge city like this is almost begging for someone to get hurt."

"Ah…" Chichiatsu-dono's face fell. I could tell hearing that disappointed him greatly. But he quickly brightened. "Well, if we happen to be attacked on our journey, I'll be sure to pay close attention so I can see these 'jutsu' in action!"

"Hmph," grunted the old samurai leading us. His steps quickened slightly, trying to get us to our destination as quickly as possible.

* * *

We looked at the caravan in front of us in awe. It must've spanned 200 metres, maybe even more, made up of many lavish carriages. Chichiatsu-dono noticed our amazement, yet for some reason he smiled sheepishly, as if he was embarrassed.

"I understand that this must be much less than such decorated ninja as yourselves are used to, but I must ask that you please bear it for now. My country might be well-off for its size and relative minority, but it is nothing compared to the Land of Fire. I had to bring out my most beautiful caravan with me to even come close to comparing it with the ones here!"

As he spoke, it dawned on me that he didn't think our amazement was from seeing his caravan as one of the most extravagant displays of wealth we'd ever seen, but rather that we thought that it, as incredible as it was, was _lacking_ compared to what we were used to.

It occurred to me that he must've lived a very sheltered life, growing up mainly in his palace and castle town. It just didn't occur to him that everyone didn't have this sort of wealth – or at least, he couldn't imagine that anyone living in a country so much larger than his could have wealth that didn't at least match his.

Maybe that was the purpose of his trip here, to learn about the real status of the world and how lucky he was to have been born into the position he was in. Or maybe it had just been a diplomatic meeting. It was most likely the latter.

"You don't have to worry about us, Chichiatsu-dono. We can make do." Kakashi-sensei swooped in, saving us from responding with our tongues still tied from seeing the caravan. "As long as we have a carriage to ourselves. That should be more than sufficient."

"Oh, we have enough carriages for each of you to take your own if you wish! But I understand if you-"

"I'll take one for myself!" I quickly stated, Naruto-kun ghosting my sentence only an instant later.

"I'll take one myself as well." Sasuke-kun said confidently.

"Oh!" Surprise lit up Chichiatsu-dono's face, before he settled into an easy smile. "Well, excellent! I'll have one of the handmaidens show each of you to your carriages, then. Come with me, my ninja friends!"

* * *

Just like everyone else's, my carriage was ten metres long, and five metres wide. There were doors either side, one leading into Sasuke-kun's carriage, and one leading into one of Chichiatsu-dono's personal carriages. There was a queen-sized bed in the left corner, and a massive wardrobe opposite it.

Spanning the right wall was a massive desk, with a black, cushioned chair with wheels on it tucked in. Above it was rows of shelves, and below there were a bunch of drawers and cupboards. The walls were painted a light, pleasant pink, and many expensive looking paintings lined them, broken up by large, square windows in the centre of each wall.

Losing no time, I quickly opened my bag, taking out my clothes and hanging them up in the wardrobe, before leaping onto the bed, and almost immediately marvelling on just how damn soft it was. Sitting up, I glanced out the window. Judging from how fast the scenery was moving by, we weren't travelling as fast as we could on foot, but certainly much faster than a regular civilian's walking speed.

And besides, the slower we went, the longer I'd be able to enjoy the comfort of this caravan. I wasn't complaining at all.

* * *

After a few hours of lazing about in my carriage, I noticed we were slowing down somewhat. The sun was beginning to set, so I reasoned that we were slowing down to stop for the night. Getting up from the bed, I wandered out of my carriage, to see what everyone else was doing.

I stepped out into the walkway, intending to walk through the door into Sasuke-kun's carriage, when a whistle in the wind alerted me to something flying towards me. Without even thinking, I plucked the whirling hunter's knife from the air. Whoever had thrown it had such bad technique it likely wouldn't have hurt even if it had hit me. It also was why it made enough noise for me to notice, despite it not moving particularly fast.

Still on autopilot, I flicked it back at my assailant at full force, in the way a knife _should_ be thrown. Idly, I realised that whoever these people were, they were likely the reason we had stopped. A strangled gasp escaped into the air seconds after the knife left my fingers, and I heard a body slump to the ground.

…Y'know, with all the fuss they make about it, I kind of expected to feel a little… _more_ about my first kill.

Shrugging, I jumped off of the caravan walkway, forming a Magic Bullet in my right hand and then converting that into a sword. Bandits normally came with weapons, so that would help alleviate the problem of reach if I had to go into close combat. Another Bullet formed in my left, and to add to the inevitable confusion that was about to occur, I created three clones to go and muck about.

Quickly moving to the front of the caravan, seeing as that's where most of these attackers would inevitably be, I saw Sasuke-kun already engaged with two, both armed with katana, three more bodies lying on the ground behind him.

As he jumped back from one of their reckless swipes, I moved in, blowing the first one's head off with the Magic Bullet I already had prepared. As his friend reeled back in surprise and horror, I took the opportunity to Lunge up to him, thrusting my magical blade right through his chest cavity.

Blood spurted onto my hands and face, and I think a bit got in my hair as well. I watched as the light instantly faded from his eyes, and as I removed the Variable Blade from his body, he lost his support and fell to the ground, dead.

Looking back at Sasuke-kun, I could see he was just as bloody as I was. With a simple nod, the two of us moved, looking for any more threats.

* * *

Just as a bandit grasped the handle of a door into the caravan, I slashed his forearm off. Before he even had a chance to clutch the remnant of his arm in pain, however, Sasuke-kun was there, thrusting a kunai into his throat, splashing both of us with even more foreign blood. Behind us, Naruto-kun and his clone each finished off their opponents, knocking them out instead of killing.

The one who seemed to be their leader grimaced as he looked at us, seeing the mangled cadavers that were once his men behind us. "You freakshows! I'll kill you brats!" He said, raising his quivering sword hand.

 **Evoke Fear has increased in level by 1!**

But before he could even make a move, Sasuke-kun and I both angled our heads back, before throwing them forwards explosively, a fireball rushing from each of our lips, and melding into one, encompassing bullet of flame.

The man had just enough time for his expression to morph into one of pure terror, before the giant fireball engulfed him and detonated, removing all traces of him from the world. Not even ash remained of him.

 **Your level has increased by one!**

I noticed the door the bandit had grabbed earlier was open, and I turned to see Chichiatsu-dono staring at the carnage, face pale. He had seen the tail end of the fight, and had at least seen us incinerate the last man.

Not even realising that I had blood splattered on the side of my face, I smiled at him. "Did you see the jutsu, Chichiatsu-dono? What did you think?"

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. See you all soon.**


	27. Choice

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 24**

 **Choice**

 **So. It's been a while. I've been busy. Sorry about that. I'm not gonna bore you with the details, so. Let's get on with the chapter, shall we?**

* * *

The look of shock that was on Chichiatsu-dono's face was more than enough to wake me out of my post-battle high. All at once, I remembered he was a civilian and a client, an important one at that, and the Variable Blade disappeared from my hand, the blood coating it dropping onto the ground in a scarlet pool now that there wasn't anything to hold it up. I tried to wipe my face, but my crimson covered hands only managed to make my face even more of a mess.

"What I wouldn't give for a water technique right now…" I muttered. As I did so, CHichiatsu-dono seemed to regain his composure. He steeled himself, and seemed to say something under his breath as well. Face still pale, he tried to smile, but I could tell it was mostly fake.

"The jutsu was, um… perhaps a bit more… visceral, than I was expecting, but… it certainly was very impressive." The daimyo sighed, seeming to deflate once again. "I shall… return to my quarters now. Please don't disturb me until the morning. I need the time to… rest." He turned, going back up into the caravan. "And perhaps vomit." He finished, much more quietly than the rest of what he had said.

Once he was inside, with the door shut behind him, I sighed, turning back around, looking at the carnage we had wrought. "Alright, let's get to work." I said, forming a Bullet, splitting it into eight, and shooting the smaller cubes into the heads of the bandits Naruto-kun had knocked out, killing them instantly.

"Wha- What are you _doing,_ Sakura-chan!? They were beaten!" Naruto-kun yelled at me, getting in my face.

I was unfazed. "They were bandits, Naruto-kun. If I left them alive, they'd just get up and keep doing what they were doing. Except that next time? They'd be smart enough to not fight shinobi."

"But they could've-"

"No, Naruto-kun." I said, my voice hard. "They chose this kind of life, and that choice is what brought about their deaths. They only have themselves to blame. And do you think that if they've chosen this lifestyle once, they won't do it again if they get another chance?"

"Sakura's right, Naruto." Sasuke-kun chimed in. "Some people don't deserve a second chance. You've got to learn that. Not everyone has as good a heart as you." My eyes flicked towards him after that last comment, but he looked as serious as ever. I suppose he meant it.

"But… what if they didn't have anything else? What if there was nothing else they could've done?"

"Well, then that's unfortunate, but bandits are bandits, Naruto-kun. No matter what the circumstances, what they're doing is wrong. After all, if they had us in that position, they wouldn't hesitate to kill us." Despite me saying that, I… Naruto-kun did have a point. The world wasn't as clearly cut as Sasuke-kun and I were saying it was. Perhaps… Naruto-kun was more mature than either-

"Again, good on you for taking the reins and showing some initiative, Sakura. However," Kakashi-sensei's hand landed on my shoulder, and despite his grip being just as light as usual, I couldn't feel any of the usual friendliness in it. Sensei spun me round, even as I turned to face him, and I looked him in the eye, and the glare he was giving me sent a chill down my spine, even as the Gamer's Mind started quashing my fear away. "When it comes to matters of life and death like this, you will bring the issue to me, and _**I**_ will be the one to decide our course of action. Understood?"

I gulped. "Yes, sensei. I understand-"

Instantly, the mood brightened. "Good! And Sasuke? That goes for you too." Taking Sasuke-kun's grunt as an affirmative response, Kakashi-sensei let go of my shoulder, clapping his hands together. "Well then! Let's get this cleaned up, and then head off to get some rest, shall we? I'll go make sure the inside of the carriages are secure. Later!"

With that, Sensei disappeared, undoubtedly going inside to go to sleep. Sighing to myself, I turned back to the fresh corpses, a Flamethrower licking the inside of my throat.

* * *

The next week was rather uneventful, as was the one after that. The only thing of note was Chichiatsu-dono slowly opening back up to us again and talking to us just as freely as he once had, if with a bit more wariness now. I made sure to try and put him at as much ease as possible, which he seemed to appreciate.

The third week after the attack however, we finally crossed the border into the Land of Swamps, where we would be handing protection of Chichiatsu-dono over to his own royal guard. I was actually quite sad about it. I hadn't known him for all that long, but I enjoyed his company, and considered him a friend.

* * *

"Well, my friends, it seems like this is where we must part ways." Chichiatsu-dono sighed, seemingly feeling just as down as I did. I doubt he has many friends that are our age, after all, so getting a taste of what having that kind of relationship would be like and then having it be taken away so quickly… It would be a difficult pill to swallow.

He smiled at each of us in turn, his eyes lingering on me a moment longer than the rest. "But I have thoroughly enjoyed my time journeying with you, and you have done an absolutely superb job at protecting me."

"Which is why I am sorry to say that I have one last burden to put upon you. One last request to make." Again, he looked at each of us, eyes falling on me last, and staying on me.

"The Land of Swamps has no ninja village of its own, as you all are well aware. However, knowing that I have excellent shinobi protecting me every moment is a wonderful feeling, one that feel that now that I have experienced, it would be foolish to spend even a day without it."

"To that end, my final request. It is not to all of you, but rather, the one out of you four that made me feel the most at peace, that I felt especially was always making sure that I was safe."

He closed his eyes for a second, seemingly steeling himself for whatever he was to say next. He opened them once again, looking directly at me, and as I gazed into his eyes, I truly realised for the first time that he was a _daimyo_ , and he had the strength of will and character to be a good one.

"Haruno Sakura-san. Would you become my personal shinobi guard?"

* * *

We set off again, heading to the capital of Swamps. Not seeing the village for three years… It was a long time, definitely. But this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. There wasn't any chance I couldn't accept.

Plus, what other ninja would be able to say they completed their first S-rank before they made chunin?

Naruto-kun had begged me to come with them, bless him, and Sasuke-kun didn't look happy to see me go either, but… it's not like we would never see each other again. Three years is a while, yeah, but we'd still be a team. I'd have a bit of catching up to do, sure, since knowing those two they'd be well on their way to jonin by the time that I got back.

But that just means that I have to train hard while I'm here and surprise them when I come back stronger than them.

That would be nice.

I felt a bit guilty about not saying goodbye to the girls, though, especially Ami-chan and Rinka, but again, it's only three years. I just hope Ami-chan can wait until then.

Shaking myself out of the introspection, I opened up my status window.

 **Name: Haruno Sakura** **  
** **Class: The Gamer** **  
** **Level: LV 13** **  
** **HP: 180/180** **  
** **MP: 96/96** **  
** **STR: 15** **  
** **VIT: 14** **  
** **DEX: 15** **  
** **INT: 58** **  
** **WIS: 33** **  
** **LUK: 10** **  
** **Points: 5**

Looking at the requirements for the two Vermillion Bird of the South skills I hadn't learned, my mental stats at least had broken the requirements for Dawn of the Vermilion Bird, but I had to bump up my WIS up a bit if I wanted to learn the eponymous skill. My physical stats compared were severely lacking however, even if you just considered Dawn of the Vermillion Bird. I'd need just over double my current VIT to meet that requirement, and that was the lowest one. If I wanted to learn these skills any time soon, and I definitely did, I'd need to start properly training those areas.

To that end, I dumped the five points from my level into VIT, since that would be the easiest to bring up to par. Still though, there'll be a lot of work to do.

I hummed to myself, considering the best course of action in training them. Thoughtlessly dumping in the points like I just had is a mistake, now that I was thinking about it. A much more efficient way of doing things would be to train and gain stat ups that way, until it took so much to get points that there was barely any point to it. _Then_ I would put in the points from levelling to boost the stats higher, and then my focus on training would logically shift to training up my skills to higher levels and to gaining more levels myself to raise my stats.

Theoretically, while I could probably infinitely train up my stats to their maximum levels manually, that would take so much time that I'd probably die of old age doing so. Same goes for levelling up. I don't know if there is a level cap, but even if there isn't one, by the time I got to something crazy like Level 100, it'd probably take so long to level up that I might as well not be able to anymore. To fill the inevitable stagnation of my stats and close the gaps in power between me and my opponents then, skills would be incredibly important, especially my buffs. Despite the fact I had 15 STR, with my buffs all active I had been able to smash a solid rock wall apart a few weeks ago. It showed just how much more powerful they could make me if I used them right.

But there was also something else to consider. LUK. I'd dismissed it as useless, thinking that it was such a waste of effort to invest in it since you could never say if anything happened to you was a matter of luck, or a matter of circumstance. But that didn't necessarily mean that the stat couldn't be _useful._ It had been a little thoughtless of me to consider it at such. It could be incredibly useful, in fact.

But without knowledge of that, I was still wary to spend the points from levelling increasing it, but I also didn't know how one would go about 'training' their luck. I suppose maybe I could go hunting for four leaf clovers?

…As stupid as that sounded, this ability is literally a game. That might actually work.

A more intelligent-sounding possibility would be maybe playing games of chance. Maybe not gambling directly, since most forms of that included skill as well… though they were better than nothing. But perhaps doing something as simple as flipping a coin over and over and guessing what side it would land on?

It was an interesting prospect. If nothing else, there were sure to be casinos and gambling dens in the capital of Swamps. I might try my hand whenever I get some time to myself and see what happens.

Stepping off of my bed, I stretched for a moment, before walking out of my carriage, looking to see if Chichiatsu-dono was around. I should probably try to stick close to him, considering that he's now my charge for three years.

Looking around, though, the sheer amount of samurai that had come too guard us on the way to the capital was astounding. They hadn't come onto the caravan, instead they were riding beside it on horses.

It was a little unnerving when I stepped out to cross into another carriage and they all stared at me with utter disgust.

I'd better get used to that.

* * *

 **Here you are. Again, sorry for the wait. I've got exams soon, so there's probably gonna be another dry spell. I'll try to get the next one out soon though.**


	28. Duty

**This Game of Life**

 **Chapter 25**

 **Duty**

"So. This is the Land of Swamps, huh?"

As we rode into the capital, I couldn't help but stare at my surroundings. While the capital wasn't nearly as large as the one in the Land of Fire, it was equally majestic.

Some of the larger buildings, while not as large, were decorated just as extravagantly as the Fire Daimyo's own palace had been, being adorned with colourful banners, dotted with spires and painted in a combination of white, gold and purple that simply exuded a sense of nobility.

And these were just the compounds of some of the lesser nobles, as I was told by Chichiatsu-dono himself. The larger, more important nobles' domains threatened to match the Fire Daimyo's in size, and blew it out of the water in terms of decoration.

And Chichiatsu-dono's own palace dwarfed even theirs in both measures.

It was a clear message. Despite the size of both the country and the city, there was an absolutely staggering amount of wealth contained here, and seeing the city for myself helped me to truly understand just how much.

But yet, I wasn't amazed. Rather, I was disgusted.

With the larger amount of wealth seemed to come a proportional disparity of it. Of the four major cities I had been to – the Leaf, along with the capitals of Wave, Fire and the capital I was currently stood in – this was the only one where I had seen entire families living in filth while trapped between two opulent estates.

It and Wave were the only two of the four where a simple glance into the streets would give you a glimpse of poverty, no matter where you looked. But unlike Wave, where everyone had been poor due to Gato's influence, here short, rich men in the most crisp business suits I had ever seen, chatted happily with beautiful women way out of their league in elegant, flowing yukata, while they walked past the sick child begging for food without a second glance, like his existence didn't even register in their eyes.

And this wasn't a singular occurrence. In almost every street, I saw a similar situation play out. And each and every time, I felt my blood boil, and the urge to go tear those people a new one for being so callous – and then Gamer's Mind quashed it down, and I stayed put, with an ever growing pit of disgust in the bottom of my stomach.

"This is it, Sakura-kun. My palace." Chichiatsu-dono chirped cheerfully.

"Cool." I grunted, before catching myself. "I mean, it looks, um, beautiful, Chichiatsu-dono."

He glanced at me, before turning, looking back at the way we had come. "You don't like it? The wealth differential?"

I blinked. Had I been that easy to read? I suppose I hadn't been trying to hide it, but still… "No, I don't. Frankly, I think it's both disgusting and unfair."

He sighed. He looked at me again, and I almost recoiled in surprise. Had I not known better, I would've thought I was looking into an old man's eyes.

"Do you not think there's such a wealth difference back in your home? It might not be as evident as it is here, but I can tell you, it definitely exists. It's almost impossible to remove, after all. I should know. Even as Daimyo go, I've been blessed with more wealth than I could use in ten lifetimes, incredibly loyal and helpful servants and advisors, and my people love me.

"Yet even still I can't make this problem of poverty any better. I've tried everything, from artificially increasing the number of jobs available in the city, up to giving out portions of my fortune to every family living below the poverty line. Yet even still, the problem is rampant. I can't find an answer. And it pains me every time I have to admit that."

I blinked. Looking at him… Being a Daimyo isn't as easy as most people would think. At least, not if you want to be a good one.

* * *

"Welcome home, Chichiatsu-sama." A handmaiden greeted Chichiatsu-dono and I at the entrance to his palace. "Mitsuki-sama is waiting for you in your office."

"Thank you, Touka-san. Please, could you tell her I will be with her in just a moment?"

"Yes, Chichiatsu-sama." Bowing, Touka smiled at me, before leaving to go tell this MItsuki that Chichatsu-dono was on his way.

"Now then, Sakura-kun. Most likely Mitsuki-san is going to tell me that the nobles wish to dine with me tonight. It's a common occurrence, and considering I just returned from the Land of Fire, they're likely curious about the trip.

"Naturally, I would like for you to join me. But you shinobi like to operate in secrecy, so… I will send you out with Retsu-san, my chief tailor, to find you the best fitting kimono and hair arrangement possible. I will introduce you as a minor noble from the Land of Fire that I have taken a fancy to and wish to make my wife. Does that work, or would you rather something different? I'm still not entirely sure how I can help you work as efficiently as possible, I'm afraid."

I smiled at him. "No, that'll be fine. Hiding in plain sight shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Is there any specific way you want me to act?"

"No, that is entirely up to you. I don't wish to interfere with how you prefer to work."

"Perfect. I also imagine we'll be seated together?"

"If you need us to be, then I'll ensure it. Why?"

"Just in case something comes up. If I lay down my chopsticks for whatever reason, and I reach out and touch you on the shoulder, and I touch your foot with mine, could you stall for me? Answer any questions directed at me for me, and make sure no one comes close to touching me until I touch you again."

"Yes, I can do that. But again, why is this necessary?"

"It's a signal. If I feel something's wrong, I'll use that to alert you before I replace myself with a clone and go and investigate. The clone can't think for itself and if anyone touches it, it'll go away, so I'll need you to cover for me to ensure that it doesn't become obvious that I'm not really there."

"I see. That makes sense."

I smiled at him, nodded, and then fell behind him and followed, our conversation now over.

* * *

"Who exactly will be in attendance, Mitsuki-san?" Chichiatusu-dono asked his advisor.

"Katsuya-sama, Akai-sama, and… Abarai." The black haired woman's lip curled up in disgust at the mention of this last name. "Plus entourages." She hastily added.

 **Marsh-Born Faith  
LV 1  
Hideyaki Mitsuki**

Chichiatsu-dono scowled for the first time since we had met, causing me to raise an eyebrow. Focusing on the woman who had been in control of the country for Chichiatsu-dono's short absence, I asked, "Who is this… 'Abarai'?"

"A criminal."

My head tilted to the side. "Then why...?"

"He's a yakuza head." Chichiatsu-dono stated simply.

"Ah. I know the type." I quietly remarked, thoughts turning to Wave and Gato. "I'm guessing that the forces you have stationed here aren't enough to fight through his own to arrest and capture him?"

"Even if they were, we have no proof that he is actually doing anything illegal," Mitsuki-san stated. "He's intelligent, and he covers his tracks well. We're aware of what he is, there isn't anyone in the capital that isn't, but until we actually see him or his associates committing a crime…"

"Your hands are tied." I finished for her. After a moment, I added "But mine aren't."

At their curious gazes, I decided to elaborate. "It's not common knowledge that I'm here, right?" At Chichiatsu-dono's nod, I continued. "We should ensure it remains that way. It gives me freer reins to act. I could try infiltrating his home to find any incriminating evidence, or if necessary… just eliminate him outright." I held back a grimace at the thought. Assassination… did I really want to do that?

Mitsuki-san's confusion mixed with concern. "How could you possibly manage that on your own? Not our best could-"

"I'm a shinobi." I interrupted, flicking my forehead protector, as Mitsuki-san's eyes widened in recognition. "Not a very old one, mind, or all that experienced, but… I think I'll be able to find my way around a few thugs."

"I see..."

Once again, my head lolled to the side. "Hm." A cloud of smoke obscured me, and when it disappeared, I was replaced with an older, taller and more feminine version of myself, with incredibly exaggerated curves that were almost impossible to obtain on any real human.

My hair was arranged in a style similar to what I had seen Madam Shijimi wear when we returned Tora to her, and I wore an expensive, yet revealing kimono. I made sure to look young enough that it made sense that Chichiatsu-dono and I could court each other yet also old enough that any older men wanting to do so wouldn't look like pedophiles.

"If he's anything like how I imagine, he'll have no qualms showing his interest even if we were said to be courting if I looked like this, Chichiatsu-dono," I murmured. "Grabbing his attention sexually grants me a free pass into his home, and leaves me in a position where I could just as easily search for evidence as I could execute." Gamer's Mind, thank you for everything. No way I could even talk about doing this without you, let alone plan on going through with it.

"Besides," I continued, "this saves you the expense and trouble of outfitting me."

Mitsuki-san stared at me in shock, while Chichiatsu-dono seemed surprised at first, but quickly recovered. It seemed he had started getting used to what I could do. "I see. So you plan to, uh seduce him?" He seemed uncomfortable at the thought.

"Of a sort, yeah." I said, letting the transformation fade, returning me to my regular appearance. "Nothing overt. I'll just show off some skin, act sultry, all that kind of stuff. I imagine that this guy's only difference from an animal is the fact that he's bipedal, so even that should catch his interest, and then… well, we'll take it from there should it happen."

I idly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Don't worry. Unless he's secretly been hiring shinobi bodyguards, I should be fine. I should be able to escape if they somehow find me out." Even as I said that, I bit my lip. If things _didn't_ go according to plan, I wouldn't have anyone to bail me out. Am I ready for this?

"Well… If you're sure, Sakura-kun. If you're successful in doing this, it would be a great boon." Chichiatsu-dono seemed reluctant to even admit that, but he and I both knew it would be beneficial – to him, and his country.

"Is there anything specific I should look out for?" I quickly asked Mitsuki-san. Her worried frown didn't break, but she thought for a moment before answering.

"I very much doubt that you'll find any real documents lying around, legal or not. He's not an imbecile, he'll be sure to keep that hidden. His men however, most likely are not."

"So listen in to what they say, and report anything incriminating. Simple enough. I can do that." I pulled up my scarf over my mouth and nose, stepping back in silence for Mitsuki-san and Chichiatsu-dono to continue their conversation.

* * *

Finally, a couple of hours after we had actually entered into the palace, I was lead to my accommodation for the duration of my mission. To call my room extravagant would be an understatement. It was huge, the size of Naruto-kun's _entire_ apartment _at least_ and decorated in the same whites and purples and golds that adorned the palace and the rest of the rooms inside it. The walls were painted white with purple banners with gold trim dotting the walls and ceiling.

One wall was entirely covered by a white curtain with intricate flower designs of red, pink and gold inscribed on it. Opening it revealed that the wall was actually a gargantuan window, and natural light flooded in, staining the room in the vermillion of sunset. The dusky orange complimented the room rather than clashing, and I found myself smiling at the warmth it seemed to imbue into everything in the room.

The smile faded as I thought about what I had said I would be doing in just a few hours. I walked back to the window-wall and opened it, walking out onto an expansive balcony, overlooking fields of personal land to be used by the people living in Chichiatsu-dono's palace.

I jumped over the railing, landing down in the fields two storeys below me, before I quickly walked out to an expansive clearing where there wasn't anything around I could accidentally destroy, and I began to train, quickly weaving through the motions of Suzaku's style, in an attempt to botth raise the skill levels of the Vermillion Bird abilities, and to get some progress in increasing my physical stats.

* * *

I cleaved through a boulder with a knife hand and kicked the top half up into the air. With a combination of Lunge and Vermillion Bird's Beak, I launched myself at it and plowed straight through, shattering it to pieces. Twisting around, sixteen Magic Bullets blasted into the pieces of rock, and I incinerated the dust that remained of the pulverised boulder with a Flamethrower.

Landing with one leg bent and the other outstretched to the right, using my left hand to steady myself, I surged forwards, my already extended right leg swinging forward in a body shot to an invisible enemy.

My momentum swung me around so my back faced the enemy shinobi I was envisioning. Thinking quickly, I raised my left hand and released a Magic Blast, forgoing a brace. The recoil sent my elbow shooting back towards my enemy, crashing into his face, and arrested, and then reversed, my spinning momentum, turning me back to face him.

Moving with the momentum, my right hand closed into a fist, and I unleashed a Power Strike that ripped through his body and crashed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust and dirt as it did so.

I let out a sigh, wiping some of the sweat from my brow, as the presence that had been watching me for the past 10 minutes came closer before retreating once again. "You can come out, you know. I don't bite."

The bushes they had been hiding in rustled as they likely flinched in surprise, before shaking as the person hidden stood and walked out. My eyes quickly raked the figure, before quietly darting up to the name and title above her head.

She was dressed in a traditional maid's outfit, with short and dark purple hair that had absolutely no frills to it, being just worn straight. She looked about Chichiatsu-dono's age, and as my eyes flitted to her own strikingly red ones, I briefly recognised her.

 **Anything For You  
LV 1  
Touka**

No family name, huh?

"Did you need something?" I casually asked the maid that had greeted Chichiatsu-dono and I as we had entered.

Her cheeks coloured in embarrassment. "N-No, not at all! I, um, just happened to come across you while performing my gardening duties, and it was absolutely entrancing to watch you, Sakura-sama."

"You know my name?"

"Yes, Sakura-sama! Chichiatsu-sama has tasked me with being your personal maid for the duration of your stay here. I hope I will be up to the task!" She responded cheerily, before bowing deeply.

"Oh… Right." I said, scratching the back of my head. I get a personal maid? Chichiatsu-dono's not sparing any expense is he? Between her and my room, I- I froze, as the rest of what she had said sunk in. "Wait, you were meant to be… gardening?" I looked to the ground where I had been training, and gulped. It was absolutely ruined. I turned back to her, but she was only smiling softly at me.

"Please don't fret, Sakura-sama. Chichiatsu-sama told me that you would likely need some space in the grounds, so my duties were simply to mark out a space for you. I will just ensure that this area is within it, and all shall be well."

I blinked. "You're taking this quite well."

She laughed. It was a pleasant sound, like a bell. "I am not the one who would worry about the state of the grounds; after all I don't tend to them. However, if Mikuro-san were to see this… Again, not to worry. I will divert all attention from you. I will take the blame myself if need be."

"You're... very dedicated. We've barely even met."

"Is it not my job to be?"

I tilted my head in concession. She had a point.

"Well then, Touka-san. When will the dinner be taking place?"

"In an hour and a half, Sakura-sama."

"Then let's get ready for it then, hmm?"

"Yes, Sakura–sama. As you wish."

* * *

 **God. Well, it's here, finally. Guys, I want to make a promise that you're never going to have to wait this long for another chapter ever again. It's not fair on you to wait so long, especially considering I already have most of the plot planned, even if not written. Anyway though, I wanna get the next chapter out in at most a week, and the one after that in about the same. After that I start university, so we'll have to see about the schedule from there, but we'll make it work.**

 **I'll see you guys later.**


	29. Paralogue - Larger Than Life

**So. My little unplanned break gave me a lot of time to think about the story and how I want it to go. I always had an idea of how the plot would go, but I also always felt like I should go into the idea of what would happen if Sakura chose differently in an incredibly important part of the plot that is much closer to the end. I really want to share with you what might happen as a result of it, just as my teaser tacked on to the end of the original version of this story tells a possible future of the events set to come here. So, here it is.**

The knife plunged into his chest, and the light in his eyes dulled. The fear remained, though.

It always did.

I kept myself together as the blood spurted over me, mingling with the blood of the rest of his village, and as I removed the blade with a sickening squelch.

I almost gagged at the stench of death permeating everything, enveloping _me_ like the Shinigami himself was coming for me.

I'm sure he'll have fun with a monster like me when my time comes.

The thought flew through my brain once again. _For what purpose is this slaughter necessary?_

And again, the other thought warred against it, and won. _I survived for a reason. I have to make sure that their deaths weren't for nothing. Even if…_

But even as I walked through the gates of the localised Hell I'd created, my own thoughts wavered as my heart returned to normal and my body itself betrayed me.

I vomited all over the clothes that had been given to me by the veteran. Albeit, they had already been ruined by the blood – and even had I been able to get it out, I never would've been able to wear them again. I'm barely keeping myself going as it is. I wouldn't be able to bear it.

I sagged to my knees as tears fell from my eyes.

 _That's Star. Only two more._

And I wept for all that I had killed, and wept even more for those I would yet kill in the future.

But even if I killed every breathing person left on this earth, and my already thrice-damned soul were to spend a thousand eternities under the Shinigami's torture…

I would make peace reign. And I would make their lives and deaths have meaning,

And that, at least, would allow the ones left behind to live freely.

It wasn't enough. It was never enough.

But as I wept and vomited until my throat was raw and my eyes bled, I believed it was.

 **You guys let me know if you're interested in seeing what happens to make things like this. It won't be for a long time, but I'll do it if you want it, alongside the main story. Anyway. Actual chapter should be out by Friday. See you in a bit.**


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